The Evolution of X Men
by Zakiba
Summary: What happens after the defeat of Apocalypse. Friends and enemies, both old and new, and more trials. I won't say I suck at summaries.
1. Chapter 1

_**Hey. This isn't my first fic, but it is my first fic for X Men: Evolution. I watched the series and became a big fan, so now I just have to write a story. This story will continue for as long as I can make it. I will introduce some new characters, and maybe you could suggest some. And please, please review. Thanks. Enjoy!**_

"Bobby!" Scott yelled, sticking his head out of the bathroom. He was wearing a robe, and his hair was wet. "Did you turn off the hot water again?"

"What?" Bobby answered, who happened to be suspiciously standing right outside the bathroom. "Of course not!" He tried to keep a straight face, but he was sniffling a laugh, which Scott noticed.

"Oh, when I'm through with you, Popsicle..." Scott growled, flinging the bathroom door open and lunging at Bobby. This was the third time this month Bobby had pulled this stupid prank on him!

"Whoa!" Bobby jumped back, startled by Scott's sudden attack. Scott was just about to grab Bobby by the hair when he heard a calm voice in his head.

_Scott, Rogue, Storm, Kitty, Jean, and Amara. Please prep the X Jet and meet me in Cerebro immediately. We have a situation. _

_On my way, Professor. _Scott thought. He looked around, but Bobby was nowhere to be seen.

"This isn't over, Bobby." he muttered.

Charles Xavier removed the Cerebro headpiece and turned his wheelchair as the door opened. Storm, Rogue, Amara, and Scott walked in. The Professor raised his eyebrow. Scott was wearing a bathrobe.

"What is it, Charles?" Storm asked. "Has Cerebro detected another mutant?" The others looked anxious, especially Amara, who was fidgeting nervously.

"Yes, Ororo, it has A young boy. But..." The Professor sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "His movements are strangely erratic, and that's making it hard to lock onto his position. It's as if he repeatedly appears and disappears from my telepathic tracking. He's a slippery one, Ororo. I think you'll need more people than usual to get to him."

"We'll find him." Storm promised. "Where is he?"

"He's in transit in Minneapolis, Minnesota." Professor X replied. "Now get going."

"Why am I going?" Amara spoke up, a look of worry spreading over her face. "I've never been to recruit a mutant before."

"Precisely." The Professor said. " All the other students have. It's time you went on your first recruiting mission. I'm sure you'll do fine. Just follow the others' lead."

"I'll try." Amara didn't sound certain.

"Come on!" Scott yelled.

"Alright. Good luck!" The Professor called as they rushed out. "And Scott..."

"Yes, Professor?" Scott turned around.

"Put some clothes on."

"I wonder what's up with this kid." Scott said as he fastened his seat belt.

"He's probably scared." Rogue answered. "I know I was when I discovered my powers. Remember?"

"Yeah. You were a mess." Scott remembered. He smiled. "Man, I sure hope we won't have to go through anything like that again."

"Shut up!" Rogue punched him in the shoulder.

"Let's hold off the speculations. We'll just have to wait till we get there." Storm said as the jet started rolling forward.

_Meanwhile, in the Brotherhood Boardinghouse..._

"We _must_ get to that mutant!" Mystique banged her fist against a wall.

"Maybe." Toad said, hopping into the room. "But why do you care? Do we really need to get every mutant out there? I mean, don't you think-"

"INSOLENT TROG!" Mystique picked up Toad by his collar and slammed him onto the floor. "Don't _ever_ question my motives!"

"Okay, okay!" Toad quickly fled the room. Lance, Pietro, Wanda, and Freddy cautiously entered.

"So where is this mutant?" Pietro asked, prepared to flee if Mystique lashed out again.

"Based on intel, he's in Minneapolis. But no doubt Xavier and his goody-goody gang are already on their way." Slowly, a cruel smile spread across her face.

"Pietro, Lance, Wanda, Freddy, prepare yourselves. We're going to extend out our hand of friendship."

"Hey, what about me, yo?" Toad hopped back into the room. "Don't I get to come?"

"From what we can tell, the boy is pretty 'freaked out'." Mystique said. "Letting him see _you _is the last thing we'd want to do."

"Hey, no fair. I want to-" Toad started. Mystique glared at him. Toad shrunk back.

"Sure, okay! Hanging back is cool!" he said, smiling nervously and hopping back. Mystique smirked.

"Let's go."

"Alright. We're here." Storm announced as the X Jet started dropped slowly to the ground.

"I hope we can get to this kid." Scott mused, unfastening his seatbelt. "He sounds troubled. And the Brotherhood might be there to stir up trouble."

"We can, like, totally handle the Brotherhood." Kitty said. "Especially Lance."

"Don't count on me for help." Amara said. "I'll probably mess everything up."

"I'm sure you'll be fine." Storm reassured her. She lowered the ramp and everyone jumped out. They had landed in a grassy clearing next to a lake. It was full of people swimming and sunbathing.

"Alright. Everyone, spread out." Storm instructed. "If you find anything, use your communicator." With that, she rose into the air and flew off.

"I'll be in telepathic contact. Good luck!" Jean said, as she too took flight.

"We'd better split into teams of two." Scott said. "Rogue, you come with me. Amara, you're with Kitty."

"Let's go!" Kitty grabbed Amara's arm and ran off.

Storm flew low over the city, trying to spot something that could give her a clue of where the runaway mutant might be.

_Professor, help me out here. _She hoped the Charles could hear her thoughts from this distance.

_Ororo. I can sense him, _came the Professor's reply._ He's about three miles due south of your location. Hurry, he's stopped._

_ On my way._ Storm rose a little higher and flew south. She kept straight along a highway waiting for the the Professor to tell her when to stop. After a few minutes, she heard his voice in her head.

_Storm, stop. You're right above him. But before you do anything, call the others. He hasn't gone anywhere in a few minutes, but you never know when he'll start moving again._

_ Yes, Professor. _ She pulled out her communicator.

"Everyone, I've located him. The Professor will guide you to my location. Hurry!"

Storm gently lowered herself to the ground. A few minutes later, the others flew in, courtesy of Jean.

"This is too weird. Where is he?" Rogue looked around. They were standing on a sidewalk on a tree-lined boulevard. There were a few people walking about, but nobody could spot a young boy.

"Jean, are you getting anything?" Storm turned to Jean, who closed her eyes and concentrated.

"I...I think I got something. But it's very faint, and-Whoa!" Jean fell to her knees as the ground shook. The others struggled to steady themselves, but the earth was buckling under their feet.

"Is it Lance doing that?" Kitty asked, grabbing onto Rogue's arm to hold herself up.

"No, I can't sense the Brotherhood anywhere." Jean replied. She frowned. "I think...I think there's something _under _us."

_Jean is right. _ The Professor's voice said. _I believe the mutant is...underground._

"Then let me check it out." Kitty volunteered. The shaking had stopped, and several street signs had been knocked over.

"Kitty, it's far too dangerous." Storm cut in. "This mutant might not be friendly. And we don't know if-"

"She's right." Rogue spoke up. "She's the only one who can check it out. I'll go with her, if you want."

"...Fine." Storm conceded. "But if anything, and I mean _anything, _goes wrong, get out immediately. We'll be standing by."

"Alright. Let's go." Kitty put her hand on Rogue's shoulder and together, they slipped into the ground.

Kitty and Rogue phased silently through the ground. Kitty was just wondering how deep they would have to go, when suddenly, they fell through the rock and into a tunnel.

"Oof!" Kitty grunted as she hit the ground. She slowly stood up. They were in an underground tunnel of some sort. It was pitch black.

"Rogue? Are you there?" Kitty felt around her.

"Ow! That's my nose!" Rogue scowled and rubbed where Kitty's flailing hand had caught on the nose.

"Sorry." Kitty looked around. "What is with this place?"

"I don't know. Maybe-AAH!" Rogue and Kitty screamed as suddenly, the earth moved in around them, trapping their arms and legs and pinning them into place.

"What's going on?" Kitty looked frantically around.

"I don't know! It's not me!" Rogue struggled frantically.

"I think I can phase through this rock!" Kitty said. But just before she could, a green-blue glow in the the shape of a person appeared in front of her.

"AAAAH!" Kitty shrieked.

"What are you doing here?" a voice demanded. It seemed to come from the human-shaped glow, but it echoed and bounced around the dark cave. The earth around Kitty tightened. Without thinking, she phased her arm through and grabbed Rogue, whom she phased out as well. Rogue quickly removed her gloves and tackled the human-shaped glow.

"AAUGH!" He yelled as he collapsed to the ground. The glow surrounding him faded.

_Rogue? Kitty? _Jean's worried voice entered their minds. _Is everything alright? Have you found him?_

_ I think so. _Kitty replied. _But Rogue had to take him out._

_Bring him up here. _Jean told them._ And don't hurt him._

_ Got it. _Kitty and Rogue grabbed the guy's arms and lifted him up.

"How am I going to phase us back up while holding him?" Kitty asked.

"Don't bother trying." Rogue responded. "I got this." She set the kid down and her hand started to glow. She punched upward, and the earth and rocks above them separated until they could see sunlight. She picked him up again. Then, her feet started to glow. Suddenly, the ground they were standing on started to rise. They rose up until they were back at ground level, a few yards from where Storm, Jean, Scott, and Amara were waiting.

"Kitty! Rogue! Are you alright? What happened?" Storm came rushing over, with the others right behind her. Rogue and Kitty lay the kid on the ground.

"So that's him." Scott said. Now that they were in the light, Kitty could see the kid wasn't as threatening as he had sounded. He was about fourteen or fifteen, with an athletic build and caramel-colored skin. He had thick, straight, black hair that hung in strands in front of his eyes. He was still out from when Rogue had touched him, but he was starting to come to.

"Wha...what happened?" he asked, his dark brown eyes fluttering open.

"You attacked us, remember?" Rogue smiled. "I took you out defending us."

The kid jumped to his feet.

"I gotta get out of here." he said. He started to glow softly again, but Jean stopped him.

"No, we're here to help you." she said softly. "You seem like you're having some problems, and we'd like to help."

"Help? You want to help me?" he looked around frantically. "Who are you?"

"We're the X Men." Storm said simply. The kid's eyes widened.

"The X Men! I've heard of you!" he yelled. He looked really scared now.

"Then you know we mean you no harm." Jean said trying to calm him.

"I know! I know!" The kid screamed. "I need you to help me! Get me out of this place!"

Jean was just about to answer when the ground started shaking again. They all looked the boy.

"It's not me!" he yelled.

"It's the Brotherhood!" Jean exclaimed. Her eyes were closed, and she seemed to be concentrating very hard. "Let's go!"

She attempted to raise everyone into the air and fly off, but suddenly, she was surrounded by a blue field. She fell to her knees.

"I can't use my powers! It must be Wanda!" She warned the others. But it was too late. A silver flash zoomed around the boy and disappeared, and reappeared on top of a nearby building.

"Ha! Too slow!" Pietro leered at them. He was holding the young boy tightly around the arm. "I'll just take the kid and let the others finish the job. See ya!" With that, he was gone.

"We've got to get out of here!" Jean yelled as her powers were released. Quickly, she and Storm raised everyone as high as they could into the air. They could see the Brotherhood far below getting into a lime and driving off, with the boy still with them.

"We failed." Amara said dejectedly. "I knew you shouldn't have brought me. I was no help."

"Hey, hey, there was nothing you could do about it, Amara." Scott said comfortingly. He looked at Jean. "Now let's get back to the institute. We may have a chance yet to help that kid."

Jean nodded. And together, they flew back to the X Jet.

_**How do you like it? Why do you think the boy is so scared, and what are his powers exactly? I'll write the next chapter once I get two reviews. That'll prove weather or not you like this story. So please, review!**_


	2. Old Friends

_**I didn't get any reviews for the last chapter, but I did get one person who favorited it. I also got quite a bit of hits. So please review this chapter. It's what keeps us writers going.**_

"AAAAH!" Kurt flew threw through the air and landed on his back.

"Oww..." he groaned, staggering to his feet. "I don't think I'll be able to walk for a week."

"Come on!" Scott ran up to him. "We're almost there!"

Just then, two turrets rose out of the ground and swiveled around toward them.

"Kurt! Get down!" Scott blasted one of them. But he wasn't fast enough in getting the other. Kurt grabbed Scott's arm and teleported to safety milliseconds before they were fried.

"That was WAY too close for comfort." Scott panted. He pointed to the top of the hill "There's our target."

"Ray! Jubilee! Come on!" Scott yelled to the remaining members of their four-member team, Team 4. "We have to make it to the prize as a team!" Jubilee and Ray ran up to the small cave in the side of the hill where Scott and Kurt were waiting.

"This is insane!" Jubilee complained, picking a piece of rubble out of her hair. "We'll never make it!" All around them, turrets were firing as the other X Men tried to push their way to the top.

"We just have to get out of this cave, and I can teleport us to the top of the hill!" Kurt exclaimed. "Easy!"

"On the count of three, we rush out and Kurt teleports us." Scott instructed. Everyone got ready to dash out. "One...two...three!"

"GO! GO! GO!" They all ran out of the cave. But just before they all could join hands, Kurt slipped on a large patch of ice.

"Oof!" Kurt hit the ground and lay there.

"Knock out the teleporter first: Check!" Bobby grinned triumphantly as he skated away. Jubilee fired a few shots at him.

"Kurt?" Scott called, forgetting about Bobby. "Kurt!"

Kurt didn't respond.

"He's out. We'll have to carry him." Scott said. "There goes out plan of teleporting." Once a team member was knocked out, he or she could not use their powers. Scott's team was still in the lead, but they were about to slip behind Bobby, Alex, Beast, and Jean, or Team 3. Scott, Ray, and Jubilee lifted Kurt up by his arms and started to half drag, half carry him up the rocky slope. Team 3 was battling Team 2, which consisted of Wolsbane, Sunspot, Kitty, and Sam, giving the slow-moving Team 4 a slight advantage. They trudged up the hill, confident of their victory. But in their haste, they forgot about Team 1. Suddenly, strong, tornado-like winds started swirling around them.

"It's Storm!" Ray shouted. "Be care-"

He was cut off by a loud clap of thunder. Storm rose up into the air, and lightning cackled around her.

"Not bad!" she called out to them. "It's time you learned the reason I'm called Storm!"

The winds increased, and they lost their footing. Scott was holding Kurt tightly by the wrist so that he wouldn't fly away.

"She's trying to stall us because her team is lagging behind!" Scott warned his teammates. Rogue, Amara, and Jamie, the members of Team 1, were still at the bottom of the hill, struggling.

"Well done, Scott." Storm praised him. "But identifying the problem doesn't mean necessarily mean you've solved it!" She raised her arms into the air and a bolt of lightning streaked toward them.

"Argh!" Ray clenched his fists and the lightning was drawn to him, his eyes glowed blue as he absorbed it.

Ray cackled with electricity. "Here, Storm. You can have that back!" The pointed his arms toward her, releasing all the stored-up electricity from her lightning bolt. Storm merely ducked to the side, dodging it. But in doing so, she lost her concentration for a second, and the winds died down.

"Attack!" yelled Scott, regaining his balance. He blasted his optic beam at her, and Jubilee fired off some plasma, which hit Storm on the foot.

"Ugh!" Storm was knocked backward.

"Run!" Scott commanded. With Storm temporarily winded, he and his team had a clear shot to the target. They sprinted the remaining ten meters to the top of the hill. There, sitting on top of a rock, was a small, brown box.

"We did it!" Scott punched the air jubilantly. "Now we just need to let everyone know we've made it."

"Wonder what's in this box." Ray picked it up. Everyone gathered around him. Ray grabbed the top and slowly pried it off.

"There's nothing in there!" Jubilee exclaimed. Suddenly, a red, demonic head sprung out of the box.

"AAAAAAHH!" Ray yelled, flinging it into the air in surprise. The box flew through the air.

"Catch it!" Jubilee screamed. They all scrabbled for it madly. But they were too late. Storm, with her team gathered around her, held the box high above her head for all to see.

"Simulation complete." an automated voice said. The rocky hills faded, and they were all back in the Danger Room.

"Well done, Team 1." The Professor said over the microphone system. "Storm, Amara, Alex, Jamie, you will have the rest of the day off. The rest of you, however, will clean up the Danger Room."

"Aw, man!" Scott said in disgust. "We almost won, Ray. Thanks a lot." He stalked angrily out of the room.

"Yeah. Next time, have a little more self-control." grumbled Jubilee.

"Come on, guys!" Ray complained. "You can't blame me for that! How was I supposed to know that was going to happen?"

"The point of this exercises is to teach you how to handle difficult situations," Storm said, coming up from behind Ray. "Including the element of surprise."

"Easy for you to say, you won because of me." Ray muttered. Storm chuckled.

"Also part of the training, Berzerker." she said. "One mistake you make could mean the victory of your enemy in real life." Storm, along with Rogue, Amara, and Jamie, walked out of the Danger Room. The remaining X Men looked around in dismay. They had a lot of work ahead of them.

_Meanwhile, a the Brotherhood of Bayville Boardinghouse..._

"Be careful with him!" Mystique snapped. "We can't risk him getting hurt."

Freddy and Lance were carrying the young boy they had apprehended in Minneapolis from Lance's Jeep to the Brotherhood of Bayville Boardinghouse. The boy had proved too difficult to subdue, so Mystique had to sedate him.

"Hey, Pietro, open the door, will you?" Lance grunted. Pietro opened the door and Freddy and Lance brought him into the sparsely furnished first floor of their house.

"What do we do with him?" Freddy asked.

"Lay him down on the couch." Mystique instructed. "An old friend is coming to have a look at him."

"Sure." Lance and Freddy gently set the boy down on the couch. "Anything else you need us to do?" Lance asked.

"No." Mystique answered. "I'll handle it from here."

Lance, Freddy, and Pietro walked off. But Wanda lagged behind.

"What're you going to do with him?" she asked.

"We're going to convince him to join us." Mystique turned and looked Wanda in the eye. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"No, no, of course not." Wanda backed away. "Just...curious." She turned and hurried from the room. Mystique perched on the edge of the coffee table and waited. Not five minutes had gone by when the doorbell rang. Smiling to herself, Mystique got up and opened the front door. Standing there was a beautiful young woman. She had straight blond hair and pale blue eyes. And she was wearing all white.

"Hello, Emma." Mystique greeted her. "So glad you could make it."

_Back at the institute..._

"Ugh. This is the _last_ time I do that simulation." Kitty groaned as she and the other members of the losing teams trooped into the kitchen for a snack.

"Tell me about it." Ray rubbed his back. "I'm sore all over from cleaning the Danger Room. Not to mention my teammates will never let me live this down."

"Oh, yeah, and the Professor wants to see you, Rogue." Amara added, plopping onto a chair.

"Me? Why?" Rogue set down the glass of water she was drinking.

"He didn't say." Amara told her as she grabbed an apple.

"Huh." Rogue walked out of the kitchen.

...

"You wanted to see me, Professor?" Rogue entered the living room, where the Professor was waiting.

"Yes, Rogue. I have a few questions I need to ask you."

"Okay." Rogue sat down.

"When you were in Minneapolis trying to reach that boy, you touched him, correct?"

"Yeah, why?" Rogue replied.

"I need information about him." The Professor went on. "And I hope you can give me some."

"Uh, sure." Roge thought for a minute. "He's a powerful geokinetic. But...he's been using his powers for years."

"That doesn't make sense." The Professor reasoned. "Cerebro would've detected him."

"Wait, there's more." Rogue went on. "He has a twin sister...I think she might be a mutant, too."

"A twin who's also a mutant. Very interesting." The Professor mused. "Anything else? A name, perhaps?"

"No, I can't find anything about a name. He has a mother, and..." Rogue stopped.

"And what?" the Professor prompted.

"I...don't know." Rogue looked puzzled. "It's like...there's something blocking any memories."

"Hmmm." The Professor was deep in thought. "And he's with the Brotherhood now. We'll have to stop him before he does anything rash." He looked at Rogue. "That will be all, Rogue."

"Okay. Let me know if I can do anything else." Rogue got up and left. The Professor was just about to go to his room when he felt someone in his mind.

"Oh, no." he whispered. He checked again, just to be sure. There was no doubt who it was.

"Emma Frost." he whispered.

_**There. I gave you another chapter. Now REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!**_ _**Please? I also want suggestions on what the geokinetic boy's new codename should be. Please please please please please please review. Thanks!**_


	3. POLL

_**Hey. This isn't a real chapter, the next chapter will be up today or tomorrow. I can't go any further without coming up with a codename for the young geokinetic boy in my story. Here are some names I've gathered from family and friends...**_

_**1. Elementro**_

_**2. Earthsliver**_

_**3. Rockshadow**_

_**4. Earthshadow  
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_**5. Earthflame**_

_**6. Stonesliver**_

_**7. Rockflame**_

_**Write reviews with your choice. I'll look at it by the end of today and make a decision. Thanks to all you guys who choose and review!  
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	4. GEO Force

_**Here's the next chapter! I decided to make this series kind of like Season 5 of X Men: Evolution. So there will be filler chapters, just like filler episodes. And thanks to Wolverine15120 and Sister Grimm 13 for your feedback. I now have a codename for the geokinetic boy. **_

Mystique turned the knob and opened the front door to reveal a beautiful blond woman standing outside. "Hello, Emma. Long time, no see."

"I was surprised to get your call, Mystique." Emma Frost stood outside the doorway of the Brotherhood of Bayville Boardinghouse, dressed all in white, with a white, furry cap. The temperature had dropped that day, as they were approaching autumn. "I never knew you were the type to ask for help."

"Never mind my reasons." Mystique brushed her off in irritation. "I only called because I am in need of your...talents."

"Why else?" Emma asked, examining her gloved fingers, an act of indifference. She had a slight accent that sounded Canadian.

Mystique ignored her comment. "Just tell me: Can you do it?"

"What's in it for me?" Emma looked Mystique in the eye. She was trying to manipulate her, something she did often. But Mystique was not easily manipulated.

"I am paying you far more than enough for the job I need you to do." Mystique growled. "Don't even try to play that game with me."

"Of course not." Emma feigned disappointment. "Now are you going to let me in, or do you want me to do it outside?"

"Just...come in." Mystique snapped. She stepped aside and let Emma enter. She looked around, taking in her surroundings. It was the first thing she always did when dealing with other mutants, especially one as tricky as Mystique. The blue shape-shifter pointed to the boy, who lay unconscious on the couch. "There he is. How long will it take you?"

"That's impossible to know, at least right now it is." Emma knelt next to the boy and placed her hands gently on his temples. "Let's begin."

_ Back at the institute..._

"I cant wait!" Kitty Pryde bounded into the living room of Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters. "Tomorrow's the new students' first day!" The other students were relaxing after school around the giant fireplace. Outside, the wind howled as a storm picked up.

"You mean the Prof's actually going to let them in?" Rogue looked up from the book she was reading. "How many are there?"

"Fifteen." Kitty responded, barely succeeding in containing her excitement. "They're going to stay in the third floor of the institute, you know, the one that we've been furnishing?" She started jumping up and down, buzzing with excitement.

"Ugh. Fifteen more crazy mutant kids runnin' around." Rogue closed her book and got up. "I think I'd better go get a good nights' sleep. It'll probably be my last for a long time."

"Hey, don't look at it that way." Jean spoke up from her spot on the couch, next to Scott, of course. "Look at this as an opportunity! An opportunity to make new friends, to learn more about yourself, to-"

"Yeah, yeah, all that and more." Rogue turned and walked up the grand, sweeping staircase to her room.

"Oh, and there's more good news!" Kitty squealed, her perky mood not at all dampened by Rogue. "All the younger students-" The younger students in the room, Sam, Bobby, Amara, Tabitha, Rhane, and Roberto all perked up, "Tomorrow, because we will have many new recruits, the Professor will officially make you all X Men!"

"AAAAHHH!" Amara squealed with delight. She jumped off the couch and flung her arms around Sam's neck tightly. A faint blush crept across Sam's face, but then he, too, started cheering.

"AWESOME!" Bobby slapped Roberto a high-five.

"WOO-HOOO!"Tabitha jumped onto the table and started dancing. Rhane jumped onto the table and joined Tabitha.

Jean smiled and watched the younger students celebrating. She remembered when she first became an X Man, with Scott. Then came Kurt, Kitty, Spyke, and Rogue. Now, these young men and women were the newest generation on X Men. And tomorrow, new students would be arriving to take the newer recruits' place. But she knew that as long as they had friends that would stand by them, the X Men would always be victorious in the end.

Charles Xavier sat in his office, deep in thought. Emma Frost was at the Brotherhood house. That was not good news. Dealing with Emma was dangerous, because her intentions were never clear. Sometimes, she really did mean well, but tried to make it seem the other way around. Other times, when her intentions were not so good, she tricked and manipulated people into helping her. And the fact that she was a telepath made it even for harder for Charles to see what she was really thinking, and on top of that she could convert into diamond form, which made reading her mind impossible.

"Hey, Chuck. Something troubling ya?" Wolverine walked into the room, arms folded.

"In a way, Logan, yes." The Professor sighed. "Emma Frost is at the Brotherhood house."

"Frost?" Wolverine exclaimed, the familiar _shink!_ of his claws extending punctuated his surprise. "What's she doing here?"

"I don't know, Logan." Professor X replied. "But I have a bad feeling that it might have something to do with the Brotherhood's..._newest_ _member_."

"What?" Logan snarled. "You mean that the kid the Brotherhood snatched is with them now?"

"That very well may be." the Professor sighed again. "And I'm not going to try and force him into doing anything. He'll have to decide on his own. But," The Professor's eyes narrowed, "We must be prepared to deal with any problems they might stir up."

_Meanwhile, at the Brotherhood of Bayville Boardinghouse..._

"You've been sitting there for almost half an hour!" Mystique exclaimed, irritation building in her voice. "How much longer is this going to take?"

"Much longer, if you don't stop interrupting" Emma Frost turned and glanced at Mystique.

"Well, hurry up and get on with it." Mystique snapped. "I didn't pay you to come here and waste my time."

"What is she doing, anyway?" Toad leaned against the wall on the far side of the room.

"How should I know? Mystique never tells us anything." Pietro grumbled.

"Wait...I think I'm getting through to him." Emma spoke up. She furrowed her brow in concentration.

"Well?" Mystique tapped her foot against the floor.

"I can't get into his memories." Emma explained. "For some reason, there are a number of mental barriers placed in his mind. And from what I can tell, there were placed there by a very powerful telepath, possibly as powerful as I am."

"And you wait until NOW to tell me this?" Mystique exploded. She grabbed Emma by her collar and lifted her to her feet.

"Wait!" Emma gasped, trying to free herself. "I said the telepath who put the barriers in place was _almost_ as good as I am, but not better. I've been...whittling away at the barriers, and I've just about broken the first one down."

Mystique snarled and released Emma, who smoothed out her collar. "Now, would you mind leaving me in peace so I can finish?" she asked, her voice edged with annoyance, as she knelt back down next to the boy.

Mystique growled and spun on her heels, stalking out of the room. Toad and Pietro wordlessly followed.

Emma concentrated harder. She saw swirling memories that were hidden behind the first barrier, a young boy and a girl, his sister...both the same age...The girl, a dragon...their mother, a woman with flowing black hair and hypnotic green eyes...placing her hands on her son's temples...screaming...blood... the woman's voice, 'you have great power in you, You will someday be great...' a father...angry, red eyes...then...darkness.

Emma drew back from the boy sharply. She was panting. The boy's memories were so vivid, so intense...

But she had what she needed. When the boy woke up, he would be at their mercy. Emma had accessed his darkest memories, so now Mystique could manipulate him to her will. Emma got up and was about to report her progress to Mystique when..."AAAAHH!"

Emma shrieked and looked down. The boy had sat up, and was gripping her tightly around the wrist. His eyes glowed an intense blue-green. Emma stared in horror. The drug was supposed to last longer! She tugged her arm, but his grip was too tight.

"L-let me go!" she cried. His grip tightened. She tried to push him off mentally, but she couldn't break through the mental blocks soon enough. She had only one choice. She closed her eyes, and in a flash, cold, hard organic diamond took the place of soft, warm skin.

"Let me go." she commanded, her voice more threatening.

"What were you doing to me?" The boy demanded. Emma didn't answer, confident that she would be safe in diamond form. But then, something happened that even Emma could not've predicted. The boy let go, but then quickly waved his hand upward. Before Emma could react, she was thrown upward and crashed into the ceiling, cracking it. _What's happening? _She asked herself frantically. This didn't hurt, but she needed to subdue the boy. _Of course, Mystique had mentioned that he was a geokinetic. He's manipulating my diamond form! _Emma tried to revert back to her natural form, but then the boy clenched his fist. Suddenly, she felt like the life was being squeezed out of her. The boy crushed harder, and small cracks started appearing around Emma's hips.

"I said, _what were you doing to me?_" The boy squeezed his fist. "_WHY DID YOU RELEASE THOSE MEMORIES?"_

"NYAH!" Emma's face contorted in pain as she was crushed. She was just about to shatter when the pressure suddenly went away. Emma, unconscious, immediately returned to her natural form, and, in doing so, released the boy's control over her. She fell and crashed into the ground, where she lay, unmoving.

The boy jumped up and looked around. The blond woman was out, did they really think they could beat him with a woman made of diamond? That was just _asking_ to be beat. He was just about to make a break for it when the front door when suddenly several people burst into the room.

"Stop him!" Mystique was flanked by Pietro, Lance, Wanda, and Toad. "Do not let him escape!"

At that command, Pietro started running in circles around the young boy, obstructing his vision and slowly moving in.

"What's wrong?" he taunted. "Cant hit me? 'Course you can't! I'm too fast for you!"

"Think again, creep!"The boy swept his hands forward, and the cement walls crumbled. He brought his hands together, and the pieces of the wall gathered around Pietro, trapping him.

"H-hey!" he wailed, struggling madly. "Lemme out!"

The boy snapped his fingers.

"AAAHH!" Pietro was propelled into the air and hit the ceiling.

"Oooh." Pietro moaned. The boy reached up and closed his fist, and the ceiling encased Pietro, who had stopped struggling. With one down, the kid turned back to face them. Lance stepped forward and clenched his fists. The room started to shake, and pieces of the ceiling started to rain down. The boy raised his arms, and several pieces of rubble stopped in mid-air. He then flung his hands forward. Mystique, Wanda, and Toad managed to get out of the way, but a large chunk of cement slammed into Lance.

"Oof!" He grunted in pain, and he crashed into the wall, unconscious. Toad leaped onto the wall, and shot his long, slimy, disgusting tongue at the boy. He dodged to the side, then flicked his hand toward Toad. Several fallen chunks of the ceiling came hurtling toward him. He managed to dodge one, but the other banged into his head, knocking him out. Mystique pulled out a small dart gun.

"Stop," she commanded him, "Or I will have to shoot."

The boy dropped his arms in a gesture of submission. Mystique smirked and put away her dart gun.

"Smart boy. Now, come quietly."

"I NEVER COME QUIETLY!" They boy clapped his hands together, the ground buckled and shook as a large wave made of earth hurtled toward Mystique. Unfortunately, she was too fast. She leaped into the air, and, with speed even Pietro would be proud of, whipped out her dart gun and shot.

"AAH!" The boy yelped, as two red darts embedded themselves in his neck. He tried to take a step forward, stumbled, and collapsed. Mystique landed with catlike grace and stepped forward and lifted him up by his arms.

"Now I see why Xavier was so desperate to get his hands on this one." She looked at Wanda, the only standing member of the Brotherhood. "Along with you, he could make the Brotherhood unbeatable."

"S-sure." Wanda turned and hurried up to her room. She hoped that Mystique didn't take much notice to the fact that Wanda didn't help in restraining the boy. Somehow, it didn't feel..._right._ If the boy didn't want to be here, and Wanda didn't think they should be keeping him here, why should she help? She ran into her room and shut the door. Her room was painted red, with brown trim, fitting colors for a girl of her temperament and personality. She dropped onto her bed. What she really needed was a good night's sleep. Maybe things would make more sense in the morning.

_Back at the institute..._

"AAH!" The professor's eyes snapped open. He removed the Cerebro headpiece.

_All students, meet me in the living room, now._ He sent out a telepathic message.

...

"What's going on, Professor?" Scott asked. He, Jean, Rogue, Kitty, Kurt, Storm, and Logan, along with the rest of the students, had gathered in the living room.

"Well, as you know, Emma Frost has recently shown up at the Brotherhood house." Professor X began. "I was keeping track of her activities when her mind suddenly became...inactive. Seems there was a flurry of activity at the Brotherhood house."

"What kind of activity, Chuck?" Wolverine asked, leaning against the doorway.

"Well, Logan, let me put it this way. All the members of the Brotherhood except Wanda were knocked out, in a similar way to what happened to Emma. Then, everything was calm."

Surprised murmurs rippled throughout the room.

"Who could take out almost the whole brotherhood?" Jean asked. A look of worry was etched onto her face. The Professor furrowed his brow.

"I believe," he said, "That this is the work of the Brotherhood's newest guest." He looked up. Everyone was looking at him expectantly.

"X Men, get suited up."

_**There! That's the longest chapter I wrote so far. As you can see, the next chapter is going to be partly about new students at the institute. I've already got some, but I would appreciate it if you would PM me some of your** **OCs. I will pick five of the best ones and use them in my story. And don't forget to review! Thanks!**_


	5. Mission: Recovery

_**I'm back! I got really nice feedback last chapter, thanks again to Sister Grimm 13, Wolverine 15120, and A Half-Empty Glass for the awesome OCs. I'm sorry I didn't put this chapter up last night, but I had to make some last-minute changes. There will be sixteen new characters in the next chapter. Thanks guys, your contributions made this chapter a lot easier. Enjoy!**_

"I hope this mission doesn't last too long." Kitty contemplated, fastening her seatbelt in her seat in the X Van. "I want to be fully alert and rested for when the new students come tomorrow."

"Right now, just try and focus on the mission." Jean said, from her place behind Logan. "Whatever's going on at the Brotherhood house is our top priority, so try and stay alert for that."

"Fat chance." Rogue snorted. She was seated beside Kitty. "Ah was just fallin' asleep when the Prof sent us on this mission. The younger students are lucky that they got to stay behind."

"Well, this mission will probably wake you up." Scott said, from his seat beside Jean. "One kid took down most of the Brotherhood _and_ Emma Frost. This shouldn't be too easy."

"Oh, come on!" Kurt piped up from the back, in his usual, playful manner. "I'm sure it's nothing we can't handle. We defeated Apocalypse, this guy can't be anything much."

Storm sighed. _Young people these days..._

_At the Brotherhood of Bayville Boardinghouse..._

The young boy opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was a dull pain in his head.

"Ooohh..." he moaned, rubbing his temples. _Where am I?_

He looked around slowly. He was lying on a bed in a comfortably but sparsely furnished room. There was a tall lamp on the floor next to his bed. He moved his arms. They were sore and stiff, as were his legs. He slowly sat up.

_What happened? How did I get here?_ He thought for a moment and suddenly it all came flooding back into his memory: A blond woman made of diamond, horrible memories coming to surface, fighting, winning, a blue woman shooting him with a dart.

_She must've brought me here. _He stiffly swung his feet over the edge of the bed and got shakily to his feet. He found that he felt very weak. He walked over to the door and tried to open it. Locked.

_No problem. _He reached out and pointed his open palm at the door, then clenched his fist tightly, a move that should've brought the door down. The wall shook slightly, but nothing else happened. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and channeled every last ounce of his energy into his fist. A faint glow appeared around his hand. He clenched his fist again.

"Ughh!" He stumbled forward, his shoulder hitting the wall. He slowly pushed himself up. He had absolutely no energy left to use his mutant abilities. He dropped to his knees, and slowly slumped to the floor. He was asleep before he hit the ground.

The young boy heard a '_creeaak!' _that jolted him out of his pained sleep. The door to the room he was in was slowly being opened. He got shakily to his feet, prepared to defend himself. Who would be entering his room? His captor? Was someone here to bust him out? Or was he still dreaming?

"Who is it?" he asked cautiously. The door swung open all the way, revealing the silhouetted figure of a girl in the dark hallway. She stepped forward into the room, where the light revealed her all the way.

"What are you doing here?" the boy snarled, recognizing the black-haired girl that with the Brotherhood.

"Wait, I just brought you some food." Wanda held out her arms. She was holding a gray, flat tray with various food items on it.

"Uh...thanks." The boy didn't want to show how weak he was. He couldn't give anything away to these people. He took the tray from her and set it down on his nightstand.

"Hope your feeling a little better." Wanda lingered near the doorway, purposefully avoiding his gaze. The boy looked at her in surprise.

"Yeah, I fell a little better." he admitted. "Just a little weak, that's all."

"Well, just eat." Wanda said. She turned around and began to walk out.

"Wait!" he called after her. She stopped and turned.

"Do the others know you brought me food?" He already suspected what the answer would be, but he wanted to see her reaction.

"...Yes. Of course." Wanda said hurriedly. She turned again quickly and walked out, shutting the door behind her. The boy narrowed his eyes. He wasn't totally convinced.

...

"Alright, we're here." Logan pulled the van up in front of the Brotherhood house. He switched off the headlights as not to draw the Brotherhood's attention. Everyone climbed out. "Half-pint, you take Jean, Elf, and Rogue inside and see what you can find out. The rest of us will surround the house. You got ten minutes, and if we don't hear from you, we're comin' in. Got it?

"Yep." Kitty nodded her affirmation.

"Understood." Jean tried to sound more formal.

"Got it." Kurt flashed a toothy grin. Rogue just nodded.

"Alright, now get going. I'm not in the mood for this to drag out." Logan instructed them.

"Right." Kitty, Kurt, Jean, and Rogue ran off off toward the house.

...

Mystique snapped awake. She had fallen asleep about ten minutes before in her enormous four-poster bed. But something had woken her up. She got out of bed and walked over to her window. She saw two, twin headlights switch off. The car to which they belonged blended perfectly into the night. There was only one car that would be here at night like this, and only one reason they were here.

"X Men." Mystique snarled. They were here, no doubt they'd come for the boy. She ran through her options. There was no time to wake all the others, and they were almost inside. She quickly devised a plan in her mind. She knew what the boy was thinking and what he wanted, thanks to Emma. She decided to use that to her advantage. She began to shrink rapidly, and her arms grew light. Feathers appeared all over her body, and her legs shriveled. Her feet grew into hard, tough talons, and her eyes grew wide and yellow. A hard beak replaced lips. In full Barn Owl form, she hopped onto her windowsill and flew out the open window, landing on a branch above the X Van, listening. Now, she had only to wait for the right moment.

...

"Are you ready for this?" Kitty asked. She, Kurt, Rogue, and Jean were standing in front of the Brotherhood house. In truth, Kitty Pryde asked the question as more of a way of reassuring herself, as well as the others.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Rogue whispered hoarsely. Jean nodded.

"Let's do it!" For once, Kurt sounded serious. They all joined hands. Kitty took a deep, calming breath, sending the mental command to herself and the others to become intangible. Then, she dove forward, through the wall.

"Be very quiet." Jean warned. They were standing in a dark room, presumably the kitchen.

"Really? And I was just about to start yodlin'" Rogue muttered sarcastically. Jean glanced at her. But she wasn't about to let Rogue's sour mood spoil her feeling of authority.

"We'll split up and look for him." she whispered. "But remember, Logan said we only have ten minutes. If you find him, contact me telepathically and I'll let everyone else know. Okay?" Everyone silently agreed. They each moved off in a separate direction, Kurt disappearing away in a cloud of smoke, accompanied by his trademark _Pbiffmmff! _sound.

...

Kitty slowly made her way up the stairs, ready to phase through the floor at the first sign that someone was coming. She reached the top of the stairs, where there was a dark hallway.

_ Left or right?_ She looked both ways. _Umm... Right. _She turned and pressed herself against the wall, sticking to the shadows. This might take a while.

...

Jean crept into the living room. It was dark, just like the rest of the house, but she could make out the shapes of a couch, a leather armchair, and a coffee table. She looked at her watch. Only five minutes left. She closed her eyes and scanned the house. She could sense Lance, Pietro, Wanda, and Toad, all asleep. _Wait..._ she could briefly sense something else, almost a tickle, but then it was gone. Could it be Mystique? Jean knew she was hard to track, due to her..._induced evolution, _thanks to Magneto's enhancer. But this fleeting sense of someone didn't feel like Mystique. So it could be only one person, the boy there were here to get! She closed her eyes, trying very hard to track that mind again. Nothing. _Come on..._ she scanned the house again and again. Suddenly, a flash of the mysterious persons' mind caught her notice again. _Found you, _Jean smiled to herself.

_Everyone, I've found him. He's in the upper left portion of the house. I can't tell if he's asleep, so approach with caution. We'll all meet there now. _She sent a telepathic message, carefully sending it only to Kitty, Kurt, and Rogue. The worst case-scenario would include her telling the Brotherhood that they'd found their hostage by mistake. She slowly lifted up into the air, she was less likely to be spotted if she was up by the ceiling. She floated up the stairs, and turned left down the hall, the same spot where Kitty had turned right. She came to the end of the hallway, where she could sense the boy.

"Anyone there?" she called softly, seeing if any of her teammates were there.

"I'm here." Kitty said softly. She was crouched in the corner, and her dark, full-body suit concealed her smoothly.

"Where are the others?" Jean asked, gently lowering herself down next to Kitty.

"I'm not sure, but we don't have much time." Kitty whispered.

...

Rogue had gotten Jean's message, and she was heading from the dining room upstairs to regroup with the others. She slinked out the doorway and had just rounded a corner when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"GAH!" she yelped, jumping and spinning in the air.

"Relax, sis, it's just me." Kurt was standing behind her. Rogue scowled at her adoptive brother.

"Kurt! You nearly scared me to death!" She scolded.

"Shhh!" Kurt looked nervously around. "Not so loud. You'll wake someone up!"

"Did you get Jean's message?" Rogue ignored Kurt's comment.

"Yep. I'm heading there now." he replied. "Let's go." He grabbed her arm, and with a _Pbiffmmff! _and a cloud of smoke, they were gone.

...

"Alright, on my mark." Jean instructed. She, Kurt, Kitty, and Rogue had regrouped outside the room where she believed the boy to be. They were all holding hands, and were tensed to jump through the wall. "One...Two...Three!"

Kitty phased them through the wall. Inside, there was a bed with a nightstand next to it. There was a lamp on the nightstand, glowing slightly. They could see a dark shape on the bed.

"It must be him." Jean whispered. Slowly, they made their way across the room.

"I think he's asleep." Kitty whispered. She inched closer. Her instructions were to phase him out of the house.

"Wrong." a voice said. As Kitty watched in open-mouth shock, the boy sat up in his bed.

"What do you want with me?" he asked. Kitty took a step back. This could get ugly.

"We only want to help." Jean said. She took a step forward. "We know you're going through a difficult time right now, and we can help you."

"Why?" the boy uttered a single word.

"Because that's what we do." Jean said softly. "The X Men are here for all mutants."

"You're lying." The boy said. He got to his feet, fists clenching dangerously. Everyone took another step back, to show that they weren't aggressive.

_He's kind of cute,_ Kitty decided, for the first time getting a good look at his caramel-colored skin, dark eyes, and black hair. He tried to hide it, but Jean noticed he was a little unsteady. He looked weak. "Get out." he warned threateningly.

"But, we're the good guys!" Kurt exclaimed. He wasn't wearing his inducer, so his blue, fuzzy, tailed form was a little intimidating, especially in the dark. They boy took a step toward them. He raised his fists, which were encased in a soft glow.

"Wait!" Jean raised her hands in a gesture of peace. "We don't have to fight. We just want to talk to you." The boy lowered his hands. _Good, _thought Jean. _We're making a connection._

"At the Xavier Institute, Professor X helps us learn to control out powers." Jean went on. "He helps mutants like us, if we're having problems. He-"

'_CRASH!' _Jean was interrupted by loud, shattering glass. Someone had jumped through the window behind the boy.

"Yagh!" The boy yelped, jumping back. Lips pulled back in a snarl, Wolverine stood in front of the window, claws extended, on a pile of crushed glass.

"Yer ten minutes is up." He growled. "You guys okay?" He turned toward the boy, who had backed into a corner. "Now, why don't ya give it up and come with us?" he asked, taking a step toward him. The boy's eyes started to glow.

"Wait, Logan!" Jean shouted. "Stop! We have it all under control!" She lunged forward and grabbed Logan's arm.

"Our "instructions are to bring the boy back to the institute." Wolverine snarled, removing his arm from Jean's grasp. The boy stepped forward, a faint glow surrounding his body. Jean's eyes widened. She had to stop Logan.

...

"It's almost been ten minutes." Storm said quietly. "We should probably go in."

"Yeah." Logan agreed. He pushed himself off from the van. "Scott, lets-"

_-LOGAN! Are you there?- _Logan jumped from the Professor's urgent voice in his head.

_-Yeah, I'm here. What's wrong, Chuck?- _Logan mentally responded while the Storm and Cyclops looked on nervously.

_-Are you attacking the boy?-_

_-What? 'Course not! I'm outside with Storm and Cyclops.- _Logan shook his head with confusion. What was wrong with Charles?

_-Logan, you must hurry. I was contacted by Jean. She said that you were attacking the boy. It must be...-_

_-Mystique.- _Logan growled, with a _shink! _of his claws extending. He turned to Storm and Cyclops. "Come on!" he said, as he started running toward the house."We've got trouble."

Wolverine, Cyclops, and Storm ran up the steps to the front door of the brotherhood house. Without checking to see if it was unlocked, Wolverine slashed at the wood, chopping it into shreds. They hurried through the darkened hallways to a room in the upper left part of the house, guided by Wolverine's nose. They came to a closed door, with muffled sounds coming from the other side. Cyclops pressed the button on the side of his visor, blasting the door down. Inside the dark room, Jean, Kurt, Kitty, and Rogue were trying to stop...Logan? They all whipped around when the rest of the X Men came in.

"Logan! But...how?" Kurt looked at Wolverine, than at (Mystique)Wolverine.

"_She's_ Mystique!" he growled, pointing his claws at (Mystique) Wolverine. Everyone looked in her direction.

The tiniest hint of a smile splashed across (Mystique)Wolverine's face. Then, she lashed out to the side, her claws slicing through the lamp on the nightstand, plunging the room into complete darkness.

"Careful!" Jean warned. "Mystique could be anywhere or anyone!" Everyone backed up against a wall.

"Jean? Is that you?" Kitty bumped into someone.

"Yes and no, Kitty." Jean replied. 'It's ME!"she spun around, planting a foot in Kitty's chest.

"Oof!" Kitty flew backward and crashed into the wall, unconscious.

"Mystique is me!" Jean yelled.

"No, I'm not." Another voice that sounded like Jean said. There were sounds of fighting, but how could the real Jean's friends help if they didn't know which one was Jean?

"Jean, are you okay?"Scott yelled.

"I'm fine!" Jean's voice sounded. "Mystique is someone else now!"

"Anyone see her?" Rogue's voice was heard. Suddenly there was a grunting sound, followed by a grunt. But before anyone could react to that, the door swung open, and light from the hallway streamed into the room. The real Rogue was standing in front of Mystique's crumpled body.

"What's going on in here?" A sleepy voice asked. Everyone turned to the door. Pietro stood in the doorway, along with Freddy and Toad. They were all wearing pajamas. His eyes widened as he saw Mystique unconscious on the floor at Rogue's feet.

"Wait, this isn't what it looks like." Jean started. "Mystique attacked us!"

"Yeah, right." Pietro scoffed. "Mystique attacked you, one-on-seven, in her own house? I don't think so!" He glanced at Freddy and sneered. "Let's take care of these losers."

"My pleasure!" Blob charged into the room, the floor shaking with every step. He picked up Wolverine and hurled him at the wall. He slammed into it, breaking a large hole in the side of the house.

"Ugh, looks like we have no choice." Wolverine extended his claws and jumped to his feet.

"Eat this!" The room lit up suddenly as Storm blasted Freddy with a lightning bolt.

"Aaughhh!" He screamed, flying out of the room and down the hallway. Pietro scowled. He ran into the room and kneed Storm in the stomach.

"Oogh!" she fell to the floor. Jean closed her eyes, and Pietro lifted into the air.

"Hey, lemme down!" he wailed. Scott then proceeded to blast him. But as Pietro fell, his flailing arm caught the young boy in the cheek.

"Uhh!" the blow stunned him, and he stumbled back to the hole in the wall. He reeled backward and teetered on the edge, trying to regain his balance.

"NOOO!" Jean yelled, making a lunge for him. But she was too late. The boy fell two stories to the ground and landed with a sickening _thud!_

_**Well, sorry to keep you hanging like that. This was kind of a sucky chapter. There was too much to put in one chapter. The next chapter will feature the new students that I was going to originally going ****to put in this one. Stay tuned and review!**_


	6. New Recruits

_**And here it is, the chapter we've all been waiting for: In which the new students arrive! Hope you're as excited as I am. Enjoy!**_

Jean, Kitty, Rogue, Kurt, Storm, Logan, and Scott all peered in horror out the large hole in the wall. Down, about twenty feet below on the ground outside the Brotherhood of Bayville Boardinghouse, lay the limp body of the boy, whose name they still did not know. Toad had fled the scene, while Mystique, Pietro, and Freddy lay unconscious on the floor.

"Hgh-uh!" Wolverine grunted as he jumped out through the hole, landing on his feet on the ground below. He knelt down next to the body.

"He's breathing." He called back up to them. "But it looks like he broke his left arm, badly. And he's pretty bruised up."

Everyone simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief when they heard this. Kurt held Kitty's and Rogue's shoulders and teleported to the ground. Jean lifted herself and Scott up, and Storm glided through the air. They gathered around the boy.

-_Can you hear me?-_ The Professor's calm voice spoke to Jean. -_What happened?-_

_-The boy took a pretty bad fall, and Logan said he broke his arm.-_ Jean mentally responded. -_He's currently unconscious.-_

_ -And the Brotherhood?-_

_ -Mystique, Quicksilver, and Blob are out. We didn't see Lance or Wanda.- _Jean paused. _-Toad was there, but he took off.-_

_ -Toad is the least of your worries. Bring the boy here. Hank can treat him.- _The Professor replied. _-But you'd better get going before anyone else shows up.-_

_-Got it, Professor.-_ Jean turned back to the others.

"The Professor wants us to bring the boy back with us so Mr. McCoy can take a look at him." She told them.

"He's in no position to be carried." Logan said gruffly. But beneath his harsh exterior, he was also secretly concerned.

"I can handle that." Jean slowly, carefully, levitated the boy into the air. She placed her hand on his arm.

"Kurt, can you teleport up back to the mansion?" Jean asked.

"No problem." Kurt slipped his arm through Jean's and they disappeared with a _Pbiffmmff!_

…...

"Logan was right, he's broken his arm in three places." Hank McCoy, aka Beast, bent over the examining table where the boy lay. "His left side is badly bruised. And there's also the slight chance of a concussion."

"How much longer until he'll be able to get up?" Professor X inquired. He was sitting in front of the door of the infirmary.

"It's hard to say, but roughly about four hours." Hank replied, straightening. "I've had to sedate him, but once he gets up, he'll be confined to bed rest for a day. He'll be able to get up and walk by tomorrow night."

"And how long until his arm heals?" The Professor asked, noticing the cast that Hank had set on his arm."

"Also difficult to say." he replied. "The breaks were severe but clean. They should be completely healed in seven to eight weeks."

"Thank you, Hank." The Professor turned and wheeled out of the infirmary. It was eleven thirty at night, and they had fifteen new students coming in tomorrow.

…...

The boy's eyes opened. He was lying in a strange bed.

_Why is every time I wake up I have no idea where the heck I am? _He thought. He took in his new surroundings. He was in a hospital room-like room. It was very clean, but not overly sterile. There were cabinets lining a wall, full of medicine, bandages, and other tools used by doctors.

_What happened to my arm? _It felt heavy and was throbbing slightly. On inspection, he discovered it was broken and that he was wearing a heavy, white cast.

_Oh, I remember now..._ The last thing he remembered was being in a dark room with he Brotherhood and X Men fighting. He was just about to try and sit up when the door opened. A large, blue, feline/ape looking...man? walked into the room. A friendly smile made up for his..._beast-like _appearance.

"Glad to see you woke up." He also had a kind, friendly voice. "You had us all pretty worried there for a bit."

"Where am I?" he asked.

"You're in the Xavier Institute, in out infirmary." Beast told him. "Feeling better?"

"A little." he admitted. "What happened to my arm?"

"You fell, as I'm told, from a hole in the wall on the second floor of the Brotherhood house." Beast replied. "But you've got to stay in bed for a day to recover."

"What time is it?" he asked. What he really wanted to know was, _how long was I out?_

"It's three in the morning." Beast replied. "But unfortunately, you arrived at kind of a bad time."

"Meaning..."?

"We have sixteen new students coming in later on today." came the reply. "It'll probably Beast turned and walked out. "You know," he called over his shoulder, "You'd be welcome to stay here if you want." And with that, he was gone, leaving the offer dangling in front of the boy's eyes.

…...

_At 1:P.M _

_ The new students are arriving..._

Cassandra Sykes stepped out of her older sister's car. She was carrying a black duffel bag, as well as a backpack. She turned and waved to her sister. She waved back, then drove off. Cassandra, or Cassie, as she liked to be called, had already said good-bye to her parents, who had stayed home. She stood in the bright, early autumn sunlight, which made her pale, creamy white hair glow. She drank in the expansive grounds, with manicured lawns, neatly trimmed hedges, and trees scattered throughout. At the end of a long driveway, with a large, elegant fountain, sat the mansion.

_Amazing, _she thought. _And I'll really be living there!_ She'd seen the mansion on TV, usually as it was surrounded by anti-mutant mobs, ranting and holding signs that said things like _Lock mutants up! _or _Mutants, go home!, _which didn't make any sense, Cassie thought, as they were telling the mutants to go home right outside their place of residence. But it couldn't be any worse than back home, where she had been expelled from school, bullied, abused by her peers, and basically robbed of all happiness. Her sister had supported her, and she was grateful for that. She'd heard horrible stories about mutant kids were abandoned by their parents and left to fend for themselves.

She tightened her grip on her bag and started to make her way to the mansion. Some of the new students had already arrived, she could see them gathering at the front door. There was a short girl with chin-length blond hair streaked purple chatting with a Japanese girl with. A tall boy with wild black hair was sitting on the front steps next to a a girl with wavy black hair.

A boy with bluish-black hair was facing the institute, but when he turned around, Cassie barely stifled a gasp. His skin was a deep, rich blue-green, but other than that, he looked pretty normal: Sharp features, an narrow face, dark blue eyes, and long, athletic limbs. She heard footsteps. Approaching the group was a petite girl and a dog. The girl had tightly curled dark brownish hair, with red highlights, and smooth, chocolate brown skin. Her dog was very tall, with long, shaggy, silky tan fur that cascaded off it's back like waves that rippled and bounced as the dog walked with long, elegant steps. It's fur was shorter on it's underside, girl, however, was taking sort of short, fast steps, and her eyes looked sort of far away, and she wasn't looking straight ahead. Cassie realized that she was blind.

"Hello." The girl extended her hand. "I'm Roxaya."

"I'm Cassie." Cassie replied, shaking Roxaya's hand. She noticed that Roxaya wasn't looking at her, but her dog was. As Roxaya walked off with her dog, the front door of the mansion opened. A bald man in a wheelchair came out along with a young woman with long, red hair. Her hair wasn't a typical 'red', as in orange, she had 'red' red hair. Cassie recognized the bald man immediately. He was Charles Xavier, also known as Professor X, also known as simply the Professor. But she didn't recognize the redhead.

"Welcome, all of you!" Professor X's said to the students who were gathered around the steps. "My name is Charles Xavier. And this is Jean Grey, one of my students." he gestured to the redhead woman. She smiled pleasantly.

"Let's meet the others students around the back of the mansion for your orientation." she told them. She and the Professor turned and went back into the mansion. Cassie and the rest of the students followed. Exclamations of _Whoa! _and _Cool! _and _Awesome! _could be heard as they opened the big glass doors and entered the mansion. They found themselves in a vast front lobby, with a grand, sweeping stairway that led to the upper levels. They followed Jean and the Professor through a hallway that led them past a kitchen, living area, and dining area. The hallway ended and branched in two, on way led to more halls, and one led to another glass door that opened up to a large patio and another lawn. Past that, there were cliffs that dropped straight into the ocean.

About eight kids ranging in age from about thirteen to about seventeen were seated in chairs arranged on the patio. Cassie and the other students joined them in the remaining seats, while the Professor and Jean joined a short, muscular, gruff-looking man with dark hair, and tall, elegant woman with flowing white hair. Behind them stood a group of people, who were all teenagers.

"I would like to welcome you all to the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters." the Professor began. "I've already introduced Jean Grey, and this is Logan, also called Wolverine, Ororo Munroe, also called Storm." he nodded to the short man and the elegant woman.

"Hello. Welcome to the Institute." Storm smiled. Logan just grunted and snarled a little. He reminded Cassie sort of an animal, but man. A manimal.

Cassie got so caught up in repeating _manimal_ in her head that she almost missed what the Professor was saying. He was gesturing to a tall guy, maybe seventeen, who was wearing a red visor. He was standing directly behind the Professor. "This is Scott Summers, also called Cyclops."

"Hey." Cyclops said. He gave them a small smile.

_Hey. _Cassie thought. _Is _Hey _really the only greeting you want to give us? Especially since we'll be living with you starting today? Well,_she reasoned, _it's better than *grunt*._

"Now, behind me are some more students." The professor went on. "Kurt Wagner, also called Nightcrawler."

"Hey there!" Kurt Wagner was furry, dark blue, with black hair, he had three fingers on each hand, and a tail. _Another manimal, _thought Cassie. _At least he put a happy _there! _At the end of his _Hey. The Professor went on to point out Kitty Pryde, also known as Shaowcat, a perky girl with a ponytail; Rogue, (_What kind of name is that?)_, a slightly gothy-type girl with brown hair and white bangs, and a whole group of other people that Cassie would need days to sort out names and codenames she was a bit distracted by Cyclops. As far as Cassie knew, cyclops were brutal, grotesque, mythical, creatures that had one eye. And Scott Summers was neither grotesque, brutal(at least as far as she knew), or mythical. So the only other thing he could have in common with a real cyclops was having one eye. And he was wearing a visor...

"Now, I would like you all to introduce yourselves." The Professor went on. "Starting from person on the far right in the front row."

A short, thin boy with shaggy light blond hair stood up.

"My name is Paul Keller, I'm thirteen years old, and I'm from France." he offered in a soft, flutelike voice.

"My name is Ivana Fox, and I'm American. I'm fourteen." The girl with wavy black hair said.

"I'm Roxaya Harding, I'm fourteen, and I'm also American." The blind girl with the dog announced. Cassie saw that she would be sixth.

A muscular boy with wavy blond hair was next."I'm Sean Blais, and I'm fifteen." He winked at Cassie. "I'm from Ireland."

"My name is Mandira Singh. I'm from India, and I'm fourteen." A girl wearing a loose s_hawar khameez _and a scarf wrapped around her head said. Cassie gulped. She was next. She took a deep breath and stood up.

"I am Cassandra Sykes." she told them. "I'm fifteen, and I'm from Guam." In reality, only her mother was from Guam, but she had lived there for part of her life, before she moved to Chicago. Her two younger brothers still lived there, though. After she introduced herself, she relaxed and was able to enjoy herself more.

"My name is Yukiko Yamada." the Japanese girl went. "I am from Kyoto, in Japan."

Cassie listened as the rest of the students introduced themselves. She smiled to herself. She might living here.

…...

"Welcome to your new home!" Kurt bowed gestured grandly down a hallway on the third floor of the mansion in the boys' dorm. On each wall were two doors, each leading to a bedroom. There was a bathroom at the end of the hall. There were eight boys in total, so that meant there would be two in a room. Orlando Reznov did not look forward to it. He had spent most of his life in privacy because of his teal skin. Sharing a room was not something he was used to. He noticed a boy who clearly did not have anyone who was immediately pairing off wit him, so he walked over to him.

"Want to share the last room?" he asked cautiously. It was Paul, the shy French boy. He nodded mutely, barely a bob of his head. He and Orlando entered the last room on the left. There were two beds, a closet, and two nightstands. Orlando took the bed by the window and dumped his stuff onto it. After getting settled in, it was lunch time. Orlando looked out the window over the grounds. He might have finally found a home.

_**There! The new characters! Hope you like it! Review!**_


	7. A New Home

_**Chapter seven is up! In this chapter, I really want to get into the new characters formally. In you submitted an OC, he/she will be featured in this chapter. Enjoy!**_

Nikolai Dmitriev blinked awake as warm, golden sunlight leaked through the shades and trickled onto his face. He shifted, turning his face away from the early morning sun.

_What time is it? _He reached wearily for the alarm clock on his nightstand.

_Seven o'clock. _He replaced the clock and stretched, pulling himself completely out of his slumber. He swung his legs over the edge of his bed and stood up, letting the warm morning sun splash across his face and chest. He stretched again, relieving the tension in his shoulders. Looking to the bed across the room, he a tuft of short, wavy light brown hair poking out of the top of the comforter that belonged to his roommate, Mason Blake, who was still asleep. Nikolai always liked to be the first one up in the morning, and having a roommate who slept as heavily as Mason helped.

He made his way for the door, grabbing his toothbrush, toothpaste, and a towel on the way out. He quietly closed the door of his room and padded down the hallway to the bathroom that was at the end of the hall of the boys' wing. He brushed his teeth and washed his face, chuckling at how ridiculous he looked. His wild black hair was poking up in sleepy tufts, he looked like he had been electrocuted. He ran a hand through his hair and turned on the shower. Nikolai liked steaming hot showers, so he let it heat up for a few minutes. After a thick cloud of steam hung in the air, Nikolai undressed and stepped in, relaxing as the hot water crashed against his skin, flattening his crazy black hair down. _Aaahh... _Nikolai Sasha Dmitriev was always in the mood for steamy showers.

Feeling refreshed after his shower, Nikolai, who was wrapped in his towel, walked, dripping back to his room. Mason was still asleep. Nikolai checked the time: Seven thirty. He dressed and brushed his wet hair. Not being able to think of something better to do before breakfast at eight, he decided to make his bed. But as he got closer, he decided against it, seeing how tangled the sheets had become and decided instead to explore his new home instead.

He exited his room again and walked down the hallway. After about fifteen meters, the hallway branched off to the girls' wing, and a large staircase swept down to the second level of the mansion. Nikolai continued down to the ground floor, where he decided he would check out the rec room. Maybe they had punching bags. He walked through the front lobby and had just passed the large glass windows when he thought he saw someone outside. He turned back and looked, there was no mistake: A girl, dressed in dark brown and green, wearing a green scarf wrapped around her head, was walking through the grass. The morning sun bounced off of her and the grass surrounding her, making her look like a brilliant, shimmering green and brown fish slipping through green waves in a sea of grass.

_I remember her from orientation, what's her name? Mandira. What is she doing out there at this time in the morning? _Nikolai pondered. He obviously wasn't the only one who liked to be up early. He was going to go outside and ask her what she was doing, but decided against it. He turned and hurried out of the room, hoping against logic he could find the rec room in this enormous mansion before breakfast.

…...

The boy rolled over and immediately groaned in pain. He sat up gingerly, cradling his broken arm with his right hand. He'd been in bed in the infirmary since yesterday, but Mr. McCoy said he could get out of bed today. He rubbed his eyes and slowly, painfully, maneuvered his body so that his legs were hanging over the edge of his bed. Using his good arm, he pushed himself up so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed. He rocked back, then thrust his shoulders forward, the momentum carrying him onto his feet. He noticed he was still wearing the same pajamas he had been wearing when he had first broken his arm at the Brotherhood house.

_That's a good thing, _he thought. _I'd hate to have someone change _my_ clothes, especially while I'm asleep. _He walked on unsteady feet toward the exit, when Mr. McCoy walked in.

"Ah, already up, I see." he greeted him with a smile. "I was just coming to check on you." The boy noticed that the Professor had entered the room behind Beast.

"Good morning." The Professor smiled. The boy tensed. He had learned not trust telepaths, and Charles Francis Xavier was no exception. "I just came with Hank to see your condition. How are you feeling this morning?"

"I'm fine, thanks." the boy answered warily. The Professor nodded. There was a long, awkward silence.

"Well!" Hank said cheerfully. "I think I'll...go see how breakfast is coming along." He volunteered.

"You do that." The Professor turned as Hank walked out, leaving him alone with the boy. He turned back toward him.

"So, what do you plan on doing, now that you're better?" he asked.

"I don't know, maybe go back to Minnesota." came the slightly sarcastic answer. The Professor closed his eyes and sighed. The boy stepped back.

"I'm not going to read your mind, I assure you." The Professor looked slightly amused at his reaction. The boy did not relax. With telepaths, you never could.

"You know, you could always stay here." The Professor went on. He hoped that the boy could overcome his distrust and see the benefits the Institute was offering. "Sixteen new students arrived yesterday, so I'm sure you'd fit right in."

"And I'd do that because..."

"Here, we give all mutants a chance to be free from oppression they might face elsewhere. We teach them to control their powers, and how to use them to help people."

"I already have control over my gifts." the boy countered. But inside, he was trying to convince himself he didn't need these people.

"All the more reason it would be beneficial for you." Professor X replied. "Besides, there's always more to learn."

The boy was silent. He had no home, and further mastery of his mutant abilities was tempting. But there _were_ two telepaths living in the house. But he liked Beast enough, he reasoned, and the woman with white hair who controlled lightning seemed okay.

"Well..." he started, avoiding the Professor's gaze. He couldn't reveal his true emotions. "I guess I could give the Institute a try. Just don't read my mind." The boy wanted to put that out there, plain and simple.

"Agreed." The Professor nodded. The boy was just paranoid, and neither he nor Jean would read someone's mind unless it was absolutely necessary.

_ I guess I should put his promise to the test, _the boy thought. _Egghead!_ He mentally leered at the Professor. His expression didn't change. The boy relaxed slightly, but he still had to be on guard.

"But there is one problem." The Professor said. "You need to tell us what we should call you."

The boy wasn't ready to tell him his real name. It was one of the few things he remembered after the mental blocks had been put in place, and he wasn't ready to hand it over to a telepath.

"It doesn't have to be your real name." The Professor said hurriedly. "Rogue has been a student here for over a year, and we only refer to her by her codename. You're welcome to use one, too."

The boy thought for a minute. "I think I can come up with a few..."

…...

"Mason! Get up! Time for breakfast!"

Mason Colton Blake groaned. He did not want to get up. He hated getting out of bed, but now, his roommate, Nikolai, was shouting and shaking him like a bloody drill sergeant.

"Do I have to?" he mumbled. He hoped, against all reason, that Nikolai would go away and he would never have to get up.

"Yes, you have to." Nikolai replied. He raised his fist, which became surrounded in a crackling, goldish glow. "I can do it for you, if you prefer."

"No, no, I'm getting up." Mason groaned again and reluctantly pushed the puffy white comforter back. He sat up, scratching light brown hair sleepily.

"Come on, my friend." Nikolai said. "Your taking too long."

"Ugh." Mason groaned. He climbed out of bed, and stumbled out of his room and into the bathroom, wondering how he would ever get used to his insane Russian roommate. How Nikolai liked getting up so early, Mason would never understand.

…...

Mason walked into the dining room, rubbing his eyes. Most of the younger students, as well as Scott and Kurt, were already sitting around the large table helping themselves to the array of food. After hastily washing up and throwing some clothes on, Mason hoped breakfast could wake him up. He plopped into a chair between Yukiko and Nikolai, who smirked.

"Finally managed to drag yourself down, eh?" he asked playfully, helping himself to a large portion of sausages. Mason didn't answer. He poured himself a glass of orange juice and took a slice of toast. He had just started to spread butter on one side when the Professor entered the room, with a young boy following him. The boy had an athletic build, with thick, black hair that fell in his eyes, caramel-colored skin, and dark, narrow, serious eyes.

"May I have your attention, please." The Professor started. "I'd like you all to welcome someone." He gestured to the boy, who was wearing a large cast on his left arm.

"This is Elementro. He is our newest recruit, and, as soon as his arm heals, he will be formally admitted into the team. Scott, Kurt, please show him around. And after breakfast, Scott will hand out the new roster, and Storm will give you all your uniforms." With that, the Professor turned and left, leaving the boy standing at the head of the table. Mason noticed he looked extremely uncomfortable. It was a feeling Mason knew well, and it was etched all over Elementro's face. Mason grabbed a chair and pulled it up in between himself and Yukiko.

"Here's an open seat." he called. Elementro looked relieved not to be standing in the spotlight, and hurried to the open seat.

"Thanks." he muttered quietly to Mason.

"No problem." Mason returned quietly. "I'm Mason Blake. What's your name?"

"Elementro." came the quiet, slightly curt response. He poured himself a glass of water. Mason wanted to ask his real name, but he could tell that he wanted it to be left at Elementro, and Mason respected that. Elementro kind of reminded Mason of himself: quiet, thoughtful, a little aloof. And maybe, he thought, they might become friends.

…...

Esme Silk grinned as she watched as her plate moonwalked into the sink, with her fork and spoon leap-frogging after it, plunging into the soapy water. She was the last student to finish breakfast, and now she was supposed to go pick up the roster and her new uniform. She hoped her uniform was cool, with no pink or frills. She was secretly hoping for a cool, dark purple to match the highlights in her short, blond hair. She walked out of the kitchen and through the front lobby into the living room, where the other new students were gathered around a large table, reading the roster and inspecting their new uniforms. There was a stack of papers on a smaller coffee table, so she grabbed the one on the top. On it was a list of all the inhabitants of the Xavier Institute, starting with the Professor and Storm and ending with the newest recruits. She had already learned all the older students' names and codenames, so she focused on the less familiar names:

Alex Victran: Roulette

Cassandra Sykes: Camo

Enrique Hernando: Mimic

Esme Silk: Anime

Holly Storm: Portalle

Ivana Fox: Aquila

Kavin Redstone: Mecha

Mandira Singh: Rockflame

Mason Blake: Blackout

Nikolai Dmitriev: Tik Tok

Orlando Reznov: Shaman

Roxaya Harding: Mezmeress

Paul Keller: Medicade

Scarlett Hamilton: Prana

Sean Blais: Bioray

Yokiku Yamada: Mirage

Esme nodded to herself. These were her new teammates. She walked over to the table where Storm was handing out uniforms. Storm looked through the boxes and pulled out a white box labeled: Anime

"Here you go." she handed it to her. "Hope you like it." Esme pulled it out. The whole thing was black, and it had dark purple shoulder and knee pads.

_Yes!_

Just then, Wolverine walked into the room.

"Hope ya like your new uniforms, cause they're about to be put to good use." He smirked as everyone turned to him. "Get ready for your first session in the Danger Room."

"What's the Danger Room?" someone called. Logan smiled maliciously, showing his canines. There was something in his voice that made Esme nervous.

"Yer about to find out..."

_** Hoped you liked the way I portrayed your OC! Stay tuned and review!**_


	8. Danger Room!

_**I'm really excited about this chapter: The new student's first Danger Room session! It will give you (and me) a chance to see what the different students can do.**_

"Welcome," Wolverine opened the doors, leading in sixteen nervous students, "To the Danger Room!"

"It...doesn't look very...dangerous." Kavin Redstone spoke up in his broad Australian accent. Alex Victran had to agree. It was just a huge room, with gray metal walls, and what looked like a control center built on the ceiling. He could see Storm and the Professor in it.

"Oh, just you wait till the simulation starts." Wolverine smirked. "Alright! There's sixteen o' ya, so you'll be splittin' into five teams of four, got it?"

Everyone nodded. Wolverine started rattling off names of people who would be a team. Alex noticed he was one of the last ones to be called on.

"...Roulette, you're with Aquila, Medicade and Rockflame." Wolverine called out the last group.

_Roulette, _Alex told himself. _I have to start calling myself Roulette now. _He walked over to his group, which consisted of four members, two boys and two girls. One of the girls had shiny, wavy black hair and blue-green eyes. Her uniform was accented with flowing blue and green lines. The other girl was shorter, with a brown scarf wrapped around her head, or a _hijab_, that completely covered her hair. She had mocha-colored skin and dark eyes. Her uniform was mostly black, with swirling red designs on the ankles, wrists, and neck. She wore a thin, black, sleeveless trench coat over her uniform. The boy was short and thin, and he had shaggy blond hair and gray eyes. His uniform was accented with white and red.

"You got five minutes to familiarize yourselves with each other before the simulation starts." Logan barked. "Then, you have to come up with a strategy. The point is to get the prize. I'll give ya the details when it starts." Logan walked out, the door sliding shut behind him.

"Hey. I'm Alex." Alex introduced himself. _No, not Alex, Roulette!_ "But now I'm called Roulette!" he added. "I mean, I'm still called Alex but I'm also called Roulette. Oh, wait, you already know who I am."Alex finished, blushing and looking away.

_Dammit, I'm such a dork._

" And what is your mutant ability?" Aquila inquired. Her tone was soft, and Alex was grateful that she didn't make a big deal out of his...introduction.

"Well, I, uh, I can alter probability." Alex said. "To tip the odds in my favor. It's useful in everyday life, but it's not very dangerous."

After they had gone around and filled each other in on themselves, it was time for the simulation to start

"Simulation: Beginners Walk, activate." The Professor's voice came over the PA system. In a flash, they were surrounded by rocky outcroppings, cliffs, and boulders.

"Your objective," The Professor said, "Is to claim the prize which is in a cave near the top of the mountain. Your goal is merely to obtain the flag, not to be the first team to do so, since it is your first time. Good luck!"

"So what's the plan?" Alex asked. He and his team started whispering different strategies. In their team, nobody had emerged as a single leader, so they all decided together. It should work out, Alex thought, after all, they did have luck on their side.

…...

Elementro sat on the cliff, looking down at the ocean. This whole situation was not what he had expected. Not at all. He sighed and threw a rock into the water, watching the splash. It was around noon, and the sun was blaring down on him. He stood up and blew the hair out of his eyes, utterly bored. He felt like he was part of some horribly cruel game. First he had been abducted by a bunch of freaks (except for Wanda, she had been sort of helpful), then the freaks had tried to mess up his mind (they'd kind of succeeded), then he'd broken his arm in three places, then he'd been taken to a house where two _telepaths_ lived, (the horror), and now, he had to wait a month before his arm was functional again.

_A month._

Brilliant.

In the meantime, he was bored out of his skull. He couldn't do any of the training sessions, (not that he needed them: He could already beat the Brotherhood single-handed!) When he was inside, he wanted to go outside. Now that he was outside, he wanted to head back in. It was insane. He dropped down to the ground again. A few small pebbles tumbled over the edge and fell into the water. Elementro watched them, then grinned to himself. He knew just how to liven things up a little.

…...

"Rockflame! Cover me!" Roulette shouted from behind the large rock that he, Aquila and Medicade were hiding behind.

"On it!" Rockflame touched the rock the rock they were hiding behind. Immediately, her body transformed from flesh and blood into solid stone, the exact same as the rock she touched. She stood up, Roulette jumped up and stood behind her, so she was shielding him from the numerous turrets firing at them. Roulette grabbed two small rocks from the ground and threw them at the turrets. Both flew straight into the muzzles.

'_BOOOOM!_' Both of the turrets exploded, sending chunks of metal hurtling toward them. Rockflame reverted back to her natural form and touched a piece of the turret, causing her to transform once again, this time into metal. Medicade and Aquila stood up from behind the rock.

"Let's go!" Roulette called to his team. They started running, Rockflame making loud _Clomp! Clomp!_ sounds as her metal feet pounded the ground. They came to a small ravine. On the other side was the mountain on which the prize was situated.

"Oh, no, how are we going to get down _there_?" Medicade peered over the edge.

"We'll have to climb." Aquila decided. "Medicade, can you make it?"

"Of course I can make it." he replied indignantly, running his hands through his shaggy blond hair. "You'll probably need me, someone might get hurt."

"Everyone should stick near me." Roulette told them. "That way, we'll be more likely to get down in one piece."

"Sounds like a plan!" Aquila agreed. She, Medicade, and Rockflame gathered around Roulette and slowly began their descent.

…...

"I don't think I can make it!" Medicade wailed, his French accent thick with fear. "It didn't look this deep from up there!"

Roulette had to agree. From here, the ravine looked much deeper than it had from the ground. They were about halfway down the side of the ravine, and Medicade was frozen, his face white and ashy.

"Maybe we should climb back up and find another way down!" Aquila suggested. She was trying to stay calm, but she, too, was looking a little strained. She was just below Medicade.

"Good idea!" Rockflame agreed from her position above Roulette."Medicade, can you do it?"

"I..I..I don't know." Medicade's voice trembled. Roulette looked up. At the top of the ravine, another team was battling mobile turrets. They couldn't be any help.

"I'll-I'll try." Medicade said, trying to convince himself so. He was trying to mask his fear, but he was shaking with fear.

"I'm right behind you." Aquila coaxed. "Just grab onto that rock with your right hand."

Slowly, Medicade started to move. He grasped a rock a few feet above him with his right hand, then started looking for a foothold.

"Just to the left..." Aquila told him. Medicade found the foothold. He planted his foot on it and was just about to push himself up when-

'_Crrack!'_ The rock shifted.

"AAH!" Medicade yelped. He closed his eyes, and his breathing came out fast and ragged. "I can't do it." he whispered hoarsly.

"Yes, you can." Roulette told him. "Stay calm!" He let go with his right hand and leaned down as far as he dared. "Take my hand!"

Medicade's eyes were the size of saucers. He reached a shaking hand up toward Roulette's extended one.

"Just...a little...farther..." Roulette grunted.

And then the side of the ravine shook. Medicade slipped and lost his grip. He crashed into Aquila, knocking her off as well.

"NOOO!" Roulette grasped at the empty air.

"_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!_" They screamed. Roulette stared in horror as they plummeted toward the rocky ground.

…...

_There, _Elementro thought, _done._

He stood proudly atop a fifty-foot platform of earth. A long slide started at the top and ended down below in the grass. Elementro stepped forward. Then he took a deep breath and dropped onto the slide.

"YAAAA-HAAAA!" He screamed with delight as he rocketed down the slide, his hair blowing in the wind. At the bottom, the slide curved upward slightly. Elementro sailed into the air, and landed neatly on his feet.

There were still some things you could do with a broken arm.

…...

"_!_" Medicade and Aquila screamed. Roulette and Rockflame looked on in horror. But just before they hit the ground, a purplish-black circle appeared beneath them. They fell into it, or rather, they fell _through _it, because they didn't appear on the other side.

"Look!" Rockflame shouted to Roulette. At the top of the ravine, another circle opened up. Aquila and Medicade fell out of it and landed on the ground. Portalle, a tall girl with wavy blond hair, was crouched on the edge, her eyes squeezed in concentration. She opened them, and the tow circles dissappeared.

"That was amazing!" Roulette exclaimed as he clambered over the edge. Portalle, along with her team, which consisted of Mirage, Blackout, and Shaman, were waiting at the top. "How did you do that?"

"It's what I do." Portalle answered with a wink. "I can create portals that transport things from one location to another of my choice."

"Are you guys okay?" Rockflame knelt next to Aquila and Medicade.

"We're fine." Aquila groaned, sitting up. "Ow!" She clenched her teeth.

"What's wrong?" Medicade asked, slowly getting to his feet.

"I cut my ankle when we landed." Aquila complained. There were a couple drops of blood dripping onto the ground from a small gash on her ankle.

"Here, let me see." Medicade crouched next to Aquila. He concentrated, and his index finger became encased in a whitish glow. He touched his finger to Aquila's ankle. He sucked in his breath as he made contact, clenching his eyes shut. The glow from his finger spread to Aquila's injury, and withing a few seconds, the cut disappeared.

"Whoa." Aquila stood up, testing her ankle. "Thanks, Medicade! It doesn't even hurt anymore!"

"It's the least I can do, after almost getting you killed." Medicade replied.

"Hey, listen." Portalle approached them. "Maybe we should stick together. We'd have a better chance of reaching the prize."

"That sounds like a good plan." Rockflame replied. She had reverted back to her natural form. "What do you guys think?" she asked the rest of the team.

"Fine by us." Roulette replied. Aquila and Medicade nodded.

"DUCK!" Mirage suddenly yelled. Everyone dove to the side as a large boulder slammed into the ground where they'd been standing.

"W-what happened?" Roulette staggered to his feet and looked around. Everyone else got up shakily, except Medicade, who lay on the ground groaning. Roulette scanned the area for their attacker. His eyes narrowed when he saw Tik Tok grinning from where he stood with his teammates. They had apparently joined with the other two teams, and they were smirking triumphantly at them. Roulette snarled, then grinned to himself. Despite what the Professor had said, if the Russian jock wanted competition, Roulette wasn't about to disappoint him.

**_Hope you like this chapter. I made a few changes to it, and I would REALLY like another couple reviews before I post the next one. Please?_**


	9. Developments

_**I'm back! Sorry I didn't get a chapter out for a couple days, I've been really busy getting ready for school. So now I'm back!**_

"Portalle!" Blackout shouted, jumping behind a tree, narrowly avoiding turret fire, "Remind me again why you can't just transport up to the prize?"

"First of all, I have no idea-ugh-where it is!" Portalle grunted, concentrating and opening a six-foot portal in front of her. The turret fire was sucked into it, creating an opening for the two teams. "And second of all, I need to save my energy for moments like this!"

"Let me help." Aquila stepped forward, protected from fire by Portalle's portal. She raised her arms slightly. Rapidly, small droplets of water formed in the air around her. She stood for a minute longer, and more droplets joined the others, growing into small, floating globs.

"Hurry!" Portalle yelled, her voice pinched. "I can't keep it open...much...longer!"

"Okay, I'm done!" There was a swirling mass of water encircling Aquila, growing by the second. She thrust her arms out in front of her, and the water immediately formed a large wave that crashed forward, knocking some of the turrets out of the ground, and breaking the rest. Aquila then flicked her hand skyward, and the water retu

"Thanks, I was dying over here!" Portalle closed her portal, leaning forward on her knees trying to catch her breath.

"Aquila, that was awesome!" Blackout exclaimed as he emerged from behind the tree, staring in awe. Aquila looked away and blushed as the rest of the two teams emerged from their various hiding spots.

"Yes, she's wondrous and fantastic and she controls water." Portalle said exasperatedly. "Now enough with the lovefest, please? We need to get going."

Blackout and Aquila flushed red in embarrassment as they started up the mountain again toward the prize.

…...

Mystique paced in her room.

_I let the boy escape from my grasp! _She picked up a chair and smashed against a wall. _Those stupid X-brats! _She kicked the wall, putting a small crack in it. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Yo, everything alright in there?" Mystique grimaced at the sound of Toad's nasally voice.

"That need not concern you!" She yelled threateningly, not bothering to open the door. "So if I were you, I'd leave before I throw you out a window!"

She heard Toad let out a girlish scream and hop away. Mystique dropped into a chair and pinched the bridge of her nose. This was so frustrating. Not just losing the boy, but the whole situation. What was she supposed to do now? What was the Brotherhood supposed to do now?

Mystique stood up again. She walked over to an open window and looked out. The sun was shining brightly today, yet there was a slight nip in the air. She was just about to close the window when she noticed something, just at the corner of her vision. There was a large cloud of smoke billowing up from behind an apartment building.

_What the-_

Mystique's thoughts were interrupted by a faint, yet obviously loud, obnoxious laughter. Mystique frowned, not because she was wondering who the laughter belonged to, but because she was wondering why that person was here. Mystique recognized that laughter; it belonged to a mutant. Specifically, a maniacal Australian mutant who was a former acolyte and probably belonged at an asylum.

_Pyro._

…_..._

"The prize-whatever it is-is in a small cave just behind that boulder!" Shaman exclaimed. His pupils glowed a soft green briefly. He, the rest of his team, and the allied team were standing on a narrow path on the side of the mountain.

"How did you know that?" Rockflame asked, looking around in bewilderment.

"There are some mushrooms growing in there." Shaman shrugged. Rockflame raised an eyebrow at him, but he didn't elaborate. Instead, he pointed at a large boulder that was blocking their path. "Could you move that out of the way for us?"

"Sure, Blue Mushroom Wonder Boy." Rockflame muttered. She pushed the boulder, which fell off the edge and crashed into the ground far below.

"There, I see the cave!" Aquila ran toward it. It could hardly be called a cave, really. It was more of a large crack, barely big enough for a person to crouch in.

"Grab it!" Medicade was on her heels, along with the others. He was just about to help Aquila when something shoved him against the side of the mountain.

"Sorry, but did you think we'd just _let_ you grab the prize?" Blackout grinned. Then, his face adopted a look of (fake) seriousness. "Portalle, stop them!"

Portalle smiled evilly. She pointed a hand toward Aquila, who was feeling around in the crevice, trying to find the prize. One of her portals appeared on the ground right under Aquila's feet. Aquila yelped and fell through, but not before grabbing onto the ankle of Shaman, who was right behind her, and yanking him along with her. They both dropped out of the portal on a chunk of rocks a few meters down the mountain.

"Portalle, look what you did!" Mirage shouted.

"It wasn't my fault!" Portalle yelled back. But she was clearly too tired to open another portal.

"Rockflame, you go and rescue Aquila!" Roulette instructed her. With a nod, she started climbing down. In the meantime, Roulette had other problems.

"Medicade, we have to stop them!" Roulette shouted. Blackout and Mirage were now closing in on him, backing him toward the edge.

"I'm a healer, I'm not cut out for this sort of fighting!" Medicade whimpered. Portalle was panting from exhaustion, so she wasn't an issue. Medicade started creeping toward the cave, trying to remain unseen.

"Not so fast!" Blackout whipped around and gestured to Medicade.

"AAAH! I'm blind!" Medicade fell to the ground, his hands over his eyes. Blackout smirked.

Roulette saw Medicade fall and decided he had to act. He started running toward the cave. Mirage tried to push him back, but Roulette ducked to the side, and, with luck, managed to dodge her. Now only Blackout stood between him and the prize. Roulette raised his hands and closed his eyes. Could luck save him again? Blackout didn't have enough energy to block any of Roulette's senses, so he was just about to trip him. Roulette couldn't stop in time, and was about to collide with Blackout when suddenly, his feet flew out from under him.

"Oof!" Blackout hit the ground with a _thud. _Roulette skidded to a stop and stared. Had his luck done _that_ to him?

Blackout scrambled to his feet. "What was that?" he looked around. Suddenly, his hands flew to his neck. He grabbed at the seemingly empty air, grunting and gasping. Roulette, Portalle, and Mirage gaped; it was if an invisible arm had wrapped around Blackout's neck. He grabbed at something and yanked.

"Neat trick, huh?" A voice smirked from thin air. Then Blackout fell to the ground, as if something had pushed him. Roulette stared in amazement as Camo materialized, or rather, appeared. She was standing over Blackout, grinning.

"I've been following you all this time." she told them. Blackout groaned and sat up. "If anyone's going to get the prize, it's definitely not going to be you."

"Where's the rest of your team?" Roulette asked.

"Toward the bottom of the mountain." Camo replied. "Unlike you guys, our alliance with other teams broke up early. My team sent me ahead to claim the prize."

Everyone was so preoccupied with Camo that they didn't notice Medicade. He had recovered from Blackout's imposed blindness, and now had silently gotten to his feet. He crept toward the cave and looked around. He frowned, something was strange. Because he was smaller than average, he could fit inside. He searched every inch of the crevice. He was right.

"There's no prize in here!" he shouted in dismay. Camo, Roulette, Blackout, Mirage, and Portalle immediately looked up at him. But before they could say anything, he mountain disappeared, and they were standing in the Danger Room again.

"What happened?" Roulette asked in confusion. He, Camo, Blackout, Mirage, and Medicade were standing on a platform mounted on the wall. It lowered them slowly to the ground.

"The simulation ended when someone realized that there was no 'prize' in that cave." The Professor's voice came on over the P.A system. "The point of this exercise was to teach you your first and most valuable lesson when becoming X-Men: Teamwork. The 'prize' was made up simply to give you motivation to use it. And you did splendidly."

"I can't believe it." Medicade shook his head. "And we were all excited about the prize."

"Hey, it was fun!" Roulette told him.

"Almost getting shot at, falling down a ravine, and going blind are NOT my idea of fun." Medicade muttered.

"Oh, come on, you'd do it again." Mirage grinned. Medicade just grumbled as they exited the Danger room. Roulette saw Logan walking down the hall.

"Excuse me, Mr. Logan?" he asked. The gruff man stopped and turned.

"Can I help ya, bub?" Logan asked, looking straight into Roulette's eyes. (Which wasn't hard, since they were about the same height.)

Roulette gulped. "Are all the Danger sessions like that one?" he asked nervously. Logan chuckled.

"'Course not, kid. This is a playground compared to what you'll do eventually." He smirked and walked off.

"Oh, no." Roulette groaned. Even _he _might not be lucky enough to survive this.

…...

Elementro sat on the roof of the institute. The students had apparently finished their Danger Room session; he could hear the hum of their voices throughout the mansion.

_I'm so bored. _Elementro secretly wished he had something to do like the others. And he also wished, no matter how many times he tried to convince himself otherwise, that he wanted to be an X-Man. Trying to push those thoughts out of his head, he got up and stood by the edge. Taking a deep breath, he raised his head slightly. A seven-foot wide square platform of earth rose out up to meet him. He stepped on and lowered his head, bringing himself gently back to the ground. He walked up the steps into the institute. By chance, some of the other students, including Mason, were there.

"Hey, Elementro!" Mason called. Elementro turned around. Mason walked toward him.

_His codename is Blackout, right?_

"Has the Professor told you where you'll be sleeping?" Mason asked him, jolting Elementro out of his thoughts.

"No...he hasn't." Elementro answered slowly. Where was this going?

"Maybe you can bunk with me and Nik." Mason answered. Elementro studied him closely. Why was he being so friendly? Then again, he _didn't _have a place to sleep.

"Sure, I'll ask him." Elementro told Mason. It couldn't hurt, could it?

"Great!" Mason smiled. "So...catch you later!" Mason walked off. Elementro stood there for a moment. This was kind of a new experience for him.

...

Medicade, aka Paul, walked into the kitchen for lunch. Some of the other students had already gathered there, while others hung out in their rooms and upstairs. Paul sat down and grabbed a sandwich off a plate in the middle of the table. He was halfway through it when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Mason stood next to him.

"So are you going to do it?" Mason asked. Paul stuffed the last of his sandwich into his mouth and chewed.

"I think...maybe, I can try." Paul replied, swallowing, partly because he was finished chewing, partly because he was nervous. "I-I've never done anything like that before, though."

"It'll be fine." Mason replied. "Come on, it's the right thing."

Paul ran a hand through his hair nervously. "I suppose so."

"So, you'll do it?" Mason asked. Paul sighed with resignation.

"Yes. I'll do it."

Storm stood in the doorway and smiled, watching them. These students were impressing her.

_**Hoped you liked that chapter. I know I didn't get into the other characters much, but I needed this to set the stage for the following chapter. The other characters will be featured in more detailed, I promise. Stay tuned and review!**_


	10. Pyromaniacs and Healing

do down

_**Next chapter is up! Hoped you liked the new students' first Danger Room session in the previous two chapters. Read away!**_

Mystique stood by her window and scowled.

_Pyro. _

If Pyro had decided to show up, that meant one thing.

Trouble.

Mystique slammed the window shut and hurried downstairs.

"Alright, I want everyone up and ready, now!" She yelled. "We've got trouble-"

She stopped talking when she realized that nobody was listening to her. Freddy was dozing on an armchair that was sagging dangerously, Lance was in the kitchen, Pietro was in the bathroom in front of the mirror primping, and Toad was presumably off annoying Wanda. This was confirmed by a loud _CRASH! _followed by the sound of Toad screaming and crashing to the ground in front of the house.

"Everyone in here, NOW!" She yelled again.

"Wha-!" Freddy woke with a start, the chair smashing beneath his weight. Lance popped his head into the room from the kitchen, and Toad limped through the front door. Wanda appeared at the top of the stairs.

"What is it?" Pietro looked annoyed. He was holding a jar of hair gel and a brush in one hand, and a comb and a pair of tweezers in the other. His hair was wrapped up in a towel. And, was that Wanda's _foundation_ he quickly set on the edge of the sink?

"That's more like it." Mystique said in a calmer voice. "Now, as I'm sure you haven't noticed, one of Magneto's goons is at our doorstep, Pyro to be exact."

"Pyro? What's he doin' here?" Toad asked, taking his eyes off Wanda for a split second.

Pietro rolled his eyes. "If Mystique already knew, why would she need us?"

Toad frowned. "Maybe-"

"SCILENCE!" Mystique roared. Toad and Pietro jumped back, their eyes the size of tennis balls.

"Much better." Mystique said after a moment. "Now, I don't care what Pyro's doing here, just go get suited up and bring him here." She narrowed her eyes and glared at Toad. "I trust even _you_ could do that."

…...

"So, what do you think?" Mandira turned around from her place in front of the mirror. Holly Storm stood nervously next to her, with a scissors in her hand. All of the new girls, as well as Kitty, were in Mandira's and Holly's room hanging out after lunch.

"Really cute!" Kitty giggled, her ponytail bouncing. "Holly, you did a really good job!"

"I hope I'm not going to regret this." Mandira turned back around to face the mirror. Her once long, hip-length straight black hair was now cut just above her shoulders. The back and sides were feathered out, and tapered in gently. Mandira's parents never wanted her to cut her hair back home, but now that she wasn't _at _home, she figured it was time for a change. Mandira looked a little sadly at the ground. Long, black locks had fallen and gathered at her feet. It had taken her years to grow her hair that long.

"You shouldn't, it's amazing." Ivana told her. She was sitting on Mandira's bed, which was under a window, letting the afternoon sun bounce off her own wavy dark brown hair. Cassie, who was sitting on a beanbag chair in the corner, nodded her agreement.

"Well, I guess if you all think it looks good." Mandira ran a hand through her hair. She turned to Holly. "Thanks, Holly."

The blond girl smiled. "My parents own some salons back in Florida." she said. "I've got a lot of practice."

"Well, what should we do now?" Roxaya asked. She was sitting on the rug next to Scarlett. Her dog, who was named Sandy, was right next to her. Mandira had never once seen them separated.

"Let's play some pranks!" Esme Silk grinned mischievously. She was perched on a windowsill.

"I'm listening." Yokiku turned toward her, narrowing her eyes with interest. The other girls turned toward her as well.

Esme's grin widened. "This'll be fun..."

…...

Elementro sat brooding on his bed in the room he was sharing with Mason and Nikolai. He was brooding and meditating at the same time. He called it brooditating. It gave him an opportunity to think and sort out his emotions and think. Right now, he was confused. Why was Mason being so friendly to him? He had certainly never been that way to other people. And more importantly, why was he here in the first place? He remembered what happened before he came here, but it was confused and blurry. But some fragments were clear, such as a massive, red, fire-breathing dragon. He _almost _remembered what the dragon's significance was, but something was in the way, like a barrier. When he meditated, he could see those fragments more clearly. But he couldn't get past that thing in the way. He got up and walked over to the window. The blinds were down. He separated them a little and peeked through, letting the sun stream into the room. Some of the other students were out in the lawns, playing baseball, it looked like. Scott and Jean were sitting on a bench under a tree. He studied them for a moment, as they sat there talking. Then, they slowly leaned toward each other and Elementro quickly shut the shades before he saw something he really didn't want to see.

That was another thing: Sharing a house with so many other people, some who he could stand, some who he couldn't. He immediately disliked Jean, because, for one thing, she almost seemed _too_ perfect to be real. Popular, smart, pretty, star athlete, strong mutant abilities...etc. Nobody had said one negative thing about the woman. It was like she was molded to be a perfect little robot, with not even one flaw. That just irked Elementro to no end. Scott was alright, he was a little stiff and aloof, but that matched Elementro's temperament. Kurt was tolerable, maybe a little to much of a jokester. Kitty was a little annoying, but she was he was fine.

Elementro returned to his bed, but banged his arm on the nightstand.

"_Oow!_" he scowled. _Stupid cast._

Trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his arm he decided to go downstairs to grab a bite to eat. Just as he was about to open the door, someone knocked.

"Who is it?" he asked. He quickly returned to his bed, so it would appear he there all along.

"It's me, Storm." came the reply.

"Come in." he told her. The door opened and Storm walked in.

"Hello, Elementro. How are you feeling."

"Fine, thanks." Elementro replied. He looked past Storm. Nobody was behind her. That was a good sign.

"Hmm." Storm turned around. "Elementro, come with me. I have a little surprise for you."

…...

Mystique flew above her team as a crow as the surrounded Pyro. He was standing in front of a burning abandoned warehouse. She landed on a low building across the street and reverted back to her natural form.

"What are you doing here, Pyro?" she asked, or rather, demanded. She noticed that he wasn't attacking her or the rest of the Brotherhood.

"Ah, just the people I wanted to see!" Pyro exclaimed, a broad smile plastered onto his face.

"What do you want with us?" Wanda asked.

"I just want a place to crash, darling." Pyro answered, winking at Wanda. She responded with a look of disgust.

"But we-" Freddy started to speak, but Mystique held up her hand silencing him. This might be the opportunity she was looking for.

Pyro and the Brotherhood looked at Mystique, awaiting her decision.

"Pyro, I have a...mission I need to take care of." She said. "I am placing Wanda in charge, and you can stay if you fill in her place while I'm gone."

The members of the Brotherhood looked at her with their mouths agape; they had known nothing about her mission. Secretly, she had been planning it, but this wasn't how she planned to announce it.

"Oh, really? You mean it?" Pyro beamed more widely. "We're gonna have a blast!"

Mystique turned back into a crow and departed before any questions could be asked. She needed to get ready.

…...

Elementro followed Storm downstairs. They rode in silence in the elevator down to the infirmary.

"What's this about?" Elementro inquired. But instead of answering, Storm opened the glass doors. Elementro stopped. Standing inside were Paul, Mason, and Beast.

"What's going on?" Elementro asked. Beast and Storm smiled.

"We," Beast started, "Are going to heal your arm for you."

...

Someone stood in a dark doorway, across the street from the Brotherhood Boardinghouse. They watched Pyro follow the Brotherhood inside. So far, everything was going according to plan. The mysterious person smiled and pulled their hood down lower over their face. Then, they turned around. The darkness swallowed them up, and in an instant, they were gone.

_**Hoped you liked that chapter. I know I didn't do a good job of describing Mandira's new hairstyle, but to be clear, it looks very similar to Storm's hair in X-Men the Last Stand. Review!  
><strong>_


	11. Phantom Bottle and a Magic Gold Glow

_**I know my last chapter was short and a little rushed, so I thought I would write a really long, nice chapter. Hope you like it. And, I also need a HUGE favor: I want to get to at least 30 reviews by chapter 12. Please, help accomplish that. **_

_** Oh, and I do NOT own 'Friday' by Rebecca Black. Because if I did, it would not exist. Or something like that. Enjoy!**_

"Anime, are you in position?"

"I am in position."

"Roger that, Anime. We will notify you when we are ready."

"Copy that, Rockflame."

Anime, or Esme Silk, turned to Kitty and Cassie. They were in the hallway, right outside a certain someone's room. The Professor was out, so this was the perfect time to execute their plan.

"It's almost time."

…...

Mystique took made one last check in her room. All her valuables were removed and hidden in a secure location, specifically hidden from Pyro, who seemed a little unstable. She opened the door to her room and was about to go downstairs when she stopped. It would be easier if she just left here, through the window. But in the back of her mind, in the deepest recesses of her thoughts, there was a tiny nagging to go downstairs, to see her team one last time. Mystique tried to push it away, but that just revealed another inkling of a thought: She would miss her team, a little. Maybe not miss, but a small, missy-type emotion somewhere. Mystique dismissed it quickly. She had no rooms for these kinds of feelings. The only people she actually _cared _about were her children, Kurt and Rogue. There was no more room for other feelings. She quickly transformed into a crow and leaped out the window, soaring off into the setting sun.

…...

Elementro stood in shock at the doors of the infirmary.

"You're going to heal...my _arm?_" he asked incredulously.

"Yes." Storm spoke up. "I thought you'd appreciate it, so I asked Hank if it would work. He thought it was a good idea, and he told me that we would need Mason and Paul.

"I agreed to do it," Mason continued, "But Paul need a little more persuasion."

Elementro didn't know what to say. It occurred to him that these Mason and Paul might be trying to be his friends.

"Well, let's get on with it." Beast instructed, a small smile lightening up his blue-apelike face. "Elementro, please place your arm on the table."

Elementro walked mutely to the other side of the room where Beast, Paul, and Mason were standing. With a nod of encouragement from Beast, he slowly, painfully lifted his forearm onto the table.

Elementro sucked in his breath. "This _really _hurts!" he groaned. He couldn't keep his arm that way for more than a few seconds. Waves of pain blasted through his body, making him wince.

As the pain hit that point when it became unbearable, it suddenly subsided greatly. His arm, actually, his whole body, had gone numb. The pain was still there, he could feel it, but it was very faint, very bearable.

"Is that better?" Mason asked. Elementro looked him in puzzlement.

"I just reduced your sense of touch." Mason enlightened. "I didn't take it away all the way so that you can tell if something's wrong."

Elementro's tongue felt heavy and thick, and he knew that if he tried to speak he'd sound garbled and basically hilarious. So he kept quiet.

"Now, Paul, if you please." Beast said. Paul stepped, his eyes nearly hidden behind his blond hair. He placed his hands near Elementro's arm and held them there, and narrowed his eyes and concentrated. A white glow spread from his hands and coated Elementro's arm.

Elementro felt a tingling in his arm. Paul seemed to be exerting himself, his eyes were clamped shut and he was gritting his teeth. Beast, Mason, and Storm watched in amazement as the glow became gold colored, completely encasing both Paul's hands and Elementro's arm.

"Ergh!" Paul grunted, his face pinched and strained.

"Come on, Paul! You can do it!" Storm encouraged. The glow darkened again, and was now almost a dark brown. Mason was also almost at his limit; he couldn't dull Elementro's sense of touch for much longer.

Paul stumbled. Then, the glow vanished. Everyone held their collective breaths.

"Does it hurt?" Beast asked. Elementro shook his head. Mason returned Elementro's sense of touch. Elementro gazed in awe at his arm.

"We'll have to take an x-ray of your arm to make sure it's completely-don't!" Beast yelled. But it was too late. Elementro flexed his arm experamentally.

"It doesn't hurt." he said quietly. He shook his arm slightly and tapped on it. No pain whatsoever.

"Come here." Beast pulled on a white mask and stepped over to the x-ray machine. "Put your arm on this screening table."

Elementro followed Beast and placed his arm on the table, only this time, it didn't hurt.

"Step out of the room for a minute, please." Beast told the others. The complied, but watched through the glass doors. Beast switched the machine on. There was a slight whirring noise, then a _click!_

"Amazing!" Beast whispered, turning the machine off. Storm, Mason, and Paul rushed in.

"Well?" Storm asked.

"His arm is...totally healed." he said. "There's no sign that it's ever been broken!"

"You did it!" Storm beamed. Paul and Mason grinned, their happiness was clear. Elementro took a deep breath.

"Thanks, both of you." He said. "I mean, really. I guess...I've been a little unfriendly before. But- thanks." he smiled, this time a real smile. Not a smirk, or a leer, or just baring his teeth. An actual smile, so that the dimple in his left cheek was visible. Mason had tried to be his friend before, and he had always kind of brushed him off. But he now realized that maybe he _could_ make friends. Then he turned away and coughed, clearly embarrassed.

"Now can you please get this confounded cast off me?" he asked, trying to break the mood. Beast laughed, and Mason and Paul grinned. Elementro managed a small, half-smile in return. Maybe people weren't as bad as he had always thought.

…...

"Animate, this is Rockflame. The target is in position. Commence Operation Phantom Bottle."

"Roger. Commencing operation." Esme replied. She nodded to Kitty, who took Esme's and Cassie's arms. Cassie closed her eyes briefly, and they disappeared from sight.

"Cool." said Esme quietly. Her voice seemed to come from thin air. "I can't see myself!"

"Shh!" Kitty hissed. She couldn't see Esme or Cassie anymore, so she only knew they were still next to her from holding their arms. "You know how good Logan's hearing is. He's like a cat."

"No problem." Cassie said, talking in a normal voice. "I don't just hide us from sight, but I hide out presences completely. Nobody can hear us, see us, smell us, or even track us mentally."

"That _is _cool." Kitty said. "Ready?"

"Yep." Esme replied.

"Let's go." Cassie said. Kitty concentrated and walked forward, right through the wall. They found themselves in Logan's room. He was sitting on his bed facing away from them, with an open bottle of beer in his hand.

"Ugh! Logan's drinking beer!" Kitty exclaimed disgustedly. "The Professor's gonna be _so _mad if he finds out." To her surprise, Logan did not appear to hear her.

"Okay, Esme. You're on." Cassie whispered. Esme chuckled.

"Watch this." tiptoed across the room and tapped Logan's beer bottle as Kitty and Esme watched in anticipation. They were still touching, so Cassie could keep them hidden. The girls backed up a few steps to watch.

Logan lifted his bottle up to take a swig. Just as the rim of the bottle touched his lips, an impish face appeared on the green glass.

"Hi!" it squeaked in a nasally, impish voice.

"WHAT THE (**CENSORED CENSORED!) **Logan screamed, coughing up beer. He flung the bottle weakly, which bounced off the bed and landed on the floor. The bottle then sprouted pudgy little arms and legs, and started rolling around on the floor.

"_Oo-ooh-ooh, hoo yeah, yeah," _It started to sing, jumping up onto it's little feet. "_Yeah, yeah  
>Yeah-ah-ah,<em>" It twirled around, drops of beer landing on the carpet.

_Shkink!_ Logan's claws extended, and he jumped up, intending to slash the little dancing bottle to shreds. But Esme was quicker. The posts on the edge of his bed twisted up and bound him around the wrists, holding him in place. He struggle furiously, but then the comforter leaped up and wrapped around his neck, holding him down. The bed and the comforter all had wide, leering faces.

"(**CENSORED!) **I'M GONNA **(CENSORED!) **BREAK THE (**CENSORED!**) OUTTA HERE! The bottle appeared not to notice Logan's outburst. It stopped spinning and started tap dancing.

"_Seven A.M, waking up in the morning, gotta be fresh, gotta go downstairs,_" The bottle continued to sing. Kitty, Esme, and Cassie were laughing uncontrollably, holding their sides.

"This...is...hilarious!" Kitty gasped between fits of laughter. Esme and Cassie were laughing too hard to say anything.

"RrrAAGH!" Logan grunted loudly, breaking free of the animate bed. He leaped toward the bottle, claws aiming toward it. In that instant, Esme broke the connection she had with the bottle. The face and limbs disappeared, and the bottle sat still. Logan stopped his assault and stood there, staring at the bottle with a face that seemed almost...scared.

-_Jean, we're ready.- _Esme projected her thoughts to Jean. Within seconds, the door to Logan's room opened. Jean walked in and looked at Logan.

-_This was your imagination. You're tired. Get some sleep. This was all a bad dream.- _She instructed him.

"Yes...a bad...dream." Logan walked dumbly over to his bed and slumped down. Momentarily, snoring could be heard.

Kitty quickly brought Esme and Cassie back through the wall. Jean, Mandira, Yokiku, Holly, Roxaya, and Scarlett were gathered there. Roxaya's dog, Sandy, was sitting quietly next to his mistress.

"Did you get it?" Esme asked Yokiku. The Japanese girl grinned, and held up a video camera.

"Let's go watch it in my room!" Holly urged.

"Yeah. You will not believe how funny it is." Cassie told her, snickering. The girls, and Sandy, raced off to Holly's room to watch the results of their prank, and as Esme hoped, to plan their next one.

…...

Lance pulled up to the driveway of the Brotherhood Boardinghouse. He jumped out of his jeep and grabbed the four grocery bags from the back. He walked up the steps and into the house, muttering to himself about how he would have to get the oil changed on his jeep soon. Inside, Wanda and Freddy were lounging in the living room, and Pietro was watching TV in the den.

"Where's Pyro?" he asked, walking toward the coffee table. Wanda and Freddy shrugged.

"Pyro?" Toad hopped into the room. "Yeah, he said something about makin' dinner."

Lance dropped the bags on the floor. "You let PYRO in the KITCHEN? Oh, man!" Lance turned and sprinted toward the kitchen to stop disaster when, _'BOOM!' _ A large cloud of black smoke billowed out from the kitchen. Lance started coughing and peered inside. The smoke alarms were on, and there was a fire coming from the stove.

"Nothing to worry about, mates!" Pyro called from the kitchen, grabbing the fire extinguisher "Just a small...technical difficulty!" A loud _PSSHH!_ could be heard as foam filled the air. Lance got to his feet and staggered backward.

_Curse you, Pyro._

…_..._

A figure cloaked in black sat in a sleek black sports car down the street from the Brotherhood Boardinghouse, watching smoke billow from the window. But after a minute, the cloud died down.

_Blast, the fire wasn't enough!_

The car peeled away from the curb and raced off.

_Another day, Brotherhood._

*_**REVIEW!* *REVIEW!* *REVIEW!* *REVIEW!* **__**Sorry about that, but I really wanted to catch your attention. Now, can you guess what I want? Stay tuned!**_


	12. Midnight Caper and Strange Feelings

_**I got good feedback for the last chapter, so I hope this chapter is as good. Before I post the next chapter, I want the number of reviews to reach THIRTY. 30 reviews. That's just four more. **_

_It was an overcast day. Dark clouds hung in the sky, creating a gray sheet, shielding the sun. The boy and the woman were in the middle of a large forest. Something terrible was about to happen._

_ "Go! Save yourself!" the woman yelled. The boy looked at her with a mixture of fear and confusion._

_ "Go, now!" he screamed. Her eyes were wide with terror._

_ "I don't understand! What's going on?" The boy was practically shaking with fear and dread. But before the woman could answer, there was a loud crash. Several trees had collapsed, and there were some burning. A large shadow covered the ground. The boy looked up, dreading what he would see next. A huge, red, scaly, fire-breathing dragon had risen into the sky, it's majestic wings beating._

_ "You must go! You have great power, some day you will be great. You are our only hope! Save yourself!" The woman pleaded again. The boy was about to run when he turned back in horror. A giant, blazing ball of fire hurled toward them as the dragon let out a deafening roar. The ball of fire got closer and closer. The woman closed her eyes and concentrated._

_ "GO!" She screamed one last time. Before the boy could react, the ground opened up. His mouth opened in a silent scream is he plunged down into the darkness, just as the scalding flames swept over them..._

"AAAugh!" Elementro sat up. He looked around. He was in his bed, drenched in sweat.

_What just happened? _He listened to see if he'd waken up his roommates. He could hear Mason and Nik snoring softly from across the room.

_Another nightmare. _Elementro rubbed his eyes. This was the second nightmare about the dragon he'd had in two nights. And once he got woken up like this, it took him forever to get back to sleep. He checked the clock on his nightstand. Three thirty A.M. Well, that was just perfect. Freaking perfect.

Elementro stood under the shower nozzle and turned it on, sucking in his breath as the cold water cascaded over him. He hated hot showers, and instead preferred cool to lukewarm water. He turned the knob to a slightly warmer position and relaxed as room-temperature water washed over his body, cooling and calming him.

After washing up, Elementro, (who had brought his clothes into the bathroom), dried off and dressed, scrubbing a towel through his dripping hair. After he had gotten most of the water out, he decided to grab a midnight snack, wondering to himself how many opportunities he would have to have a midnight snack in a huge, quiet mansion by himself.

_Probably lots more, if I keep having these stupid nightmares. _

Elementro slipped silently through the dark halls. Even he had to admit, this was pretty creepy.

_I guess there's a reason you're supposed to sleep all night. _

Elementro reached the top of the stairs. He was halfway down when _Clink! _

He stopped an listened, and his sharp ears picked up the strange sound again..._Clink! _He inched forward and peered over the railing, straining to see in the dark. He silently gasped. There was a slender figure, cloaked in shadow, walking along the wall toward the kitchen. Every time they stepped, it made a _Clink! _sound.

Elementro tensed. Was someone infiltrating the Institute? Who could it be? The only ones he could think of that would do something like that were Magneto's Acolytes and the Brotherhood. There were probably more people who hated the X-Men, but he had only been given a brief introduction during his personal orientation. But if it was an Acolyte or a member of the Brotherhood, then did that mean that the rest of their team was here, too? Elementro decided to follow the mysterious intruder, if he woke up the others, the mystery guest might get spooked and run. Elementro climbed up onto the railing and balanced for a minute.

_I must be insane. _

He tensed and jumped, his leg muscles pushing hard against the railing, propelling him into the air. He stretched his arms out in front of him, but instead of slamming into the wall across the hallway, his arms and legs sank into the stone wall, all the way up to his elbows and knees. The wall was made of earth, and any earth would bend to Elementro's will. Pulling his arms and legs out of the wall slightly, he crawled on the wall, like a huge, four-legged spider. He crept along the wall around the corner, to see the mysterious figure standing about four feet away. He couldn't make out any details, but from the shape, he could deduct that they were...feminine.

_Nobody in the brotherhood or the Acolytes is female, except Mystique and Wanda.._ He thought. _Well, now's my chance! _

While the shadowed intruder was standing in the hallway, Elementro crept ahead of them. Then, he dropped from the wall into the shadows. He studied his target for a moment, they did not budge, instead, they seemed to be looking around, as if deciding something.

"What are you doing here?" Elementro demanded, stepping out of a shadow in front of the mysterious person he was tailing.

"AAAH!" The person screamed, startled. There was a faint "Elementro, what are you doing down here?"

"Huh?" Elementro stopped in confusion. He recognized that voice. "Mandira, what are you doing down here?" He looked more closely. "And you are you made of _glass_?" He realized she was carrying a cup of water in her hand. The ice cubes in it had been making the _Clink! _sound he'd been hearing. He realized that she wasn't wearing a _hijab_, so he backed away a little into the shadow to respect her modesty.

"I had just gotten a glass of water and you startled me, so in instinctively transformed into the glass I was holding." Mandira replied. "Probably not the best idea."

_At three thirty? _Elementro picked up from her tone that she was telling the truth. _Well, she's got her reasons, I've got mine. _Mandira peered curiously at him. "What were _you _doing down here? And why is your hair wet?"

"Oh, I was just...up, then I decided to grab a snack." he said flatly. "Then I heard something, and thought you might be an intruder."

Mandira coughed awkwardly. "Well, I'm just glad you didn't, um, crush me."

"Sure, sure." Elementro turned and walked off to the kitchen. "Well, see you...whenever."

Mandira also turned and walked away. Elementro went to kitchen and made himself a mug of tea. But in the back of his mind, two thoughts nagged: Why was Mandira just standing there standing in the hall? And most strange of all, Elementro had noticed the cup she was holding was clear plastic.

…...

Rockflame stood in the danger room, along with the rest of the new students.

"Alright, today, you're focus will be on one-on-one battles." Scott Summers briefed them. He and Jean were standing in front of the large group of students. "None of the Danger Room's defense systems will be turned on at all. The winner is the one who made the hits on the others in fifteen minutes. Oh, and we will be putting boys and girls against each other, because in a real fight, you don't know who you're opponent will be. Ready?"

There was a murmur of agreement from the group. Scott glanced at his sheet. "The first two will be...Rockflame and Elementro. Please step into the center of the room."

Rockflame glanced at her opponent. He stepped forward into the center of the room, his hair slightly disheveled, like he didn't have time to brush it before hurrying to the DR session.

Scott glanced at his clipboard again. The Professor had told him specifically to pit Elementro against Rockflame.

"Those two have a lot in common, including religious beliefs." he had told him. "It will be helpful, as well as interesting, to see how those two will interact in a battle.

Now, Scott watched as the two kids faced each other, in battle stances. Rockflame's body turned from flesh-and-blood into the cold, hard metal of the floor of the Danger Room. She had additional items in her pockets, transformations she could use in battle.

"Start simulation: Beginner's Duel." Scott said. "Begin!"

Elementro and Rockflame stood silently, facing off. Rockflame couldn't fight long range, and Elementro wasn't ready yet. Since there wasn't much earth in the Danger Room, Elementro was concentrating on drawing tiny dust particles from the air, which he could gather together and form a small amount of workable earth. It wasn't a lot, but it was the best he could to in a metal room. If he kept his distance from Rockflame, she couldn't attack, and after a few minutes, he he would be attack-ready.

Rockflame eyed Elementro carefully. He was standing in one place, his eyes half closed. A small, very faint cloud of fine dust was beginning to gather in the around in front of him. Now, he was vulnerable! She jumped high into the air and charged forward, her metal feet clanging loudly against the floor. She was almost upon him when, with what appeared to be great effort, he swept his hands toward her feet. The tiny cloud of dust followed his hands and gathered around her feet, tripping her.

'_CLANG!_' Rockflame thudded to the ground. Elementro swiftly darted to the other side of the room.

"Now look what you did. It took me a long time to gather that dust." Elementro muttered. Rockflame slowly got to her feet.

_I need to switch into something with less density. _Rockflame deduced. _The Professot talked with me about this. _

She reached into her pockets and felt around. Where was it...there it is! She closed her fist around a small ball of rubber. In a flash, her body became tough, black rubber. Elementro was still standing there, and the cloud had grown larger and denser. It was now bigger than him, and she couldn't see him as well through it. Rockflame knew she didn't have much time before he would attack. Hoping to gain that advantage, she bounded toward him, an extra spring in her step. This is when the real fight began.

"Last time wasn't enough for you?" he taunted. He raised his arms, preparing to hit her again.

"See for yourself!" She jumped and kicked, her foot lashing toward his chest. He ducked, and the cloud of dust gathered under her. In one swift motion, Elementro brought his hands together, and the dust immediately formed into a head-sized rock.

"Oof!" Rockflame hit the ground. Elementro a few feet away from her. He smirked. Then, he gestured toward her. The rock flew toward her head.

"AAH!" Rockflame shreiked. She raised her arms protectively...and the rock bounced off of her more resilient body. The rock returned to Elementro, who flattened it into a disk and stepped on, carrying him through the air.

_I need something tougher, something to break through his rocks._

She shifted to metal again. Elementro jumped off his floating platform and clapped his hands together. The chunk of rock burst back into a cloud of dust again.

_Now, before he attacks!_ Rockflame leaped up and threw a punch toward Elementro's midsection.

"Argh!" he grunted, falling back as her metal fist connected with his stomach. He got to his feet just in time to see her running toward him again, ready to attack.

"Not this time." he muttered. He focused on her, and the cloud of dust swirled around her in a mini sandstorm.

"Where are you? Come out and fight!" Rockflame covered her face, trying to keep the swirling dust of her eyes. I flew around her faster and faster. Elementro, his face grim, closed his fist. The dust clumped around her, forming a thin layer of solid rock, completely encasing her. Rockflame tried to budge, but the rock was crushing against her too tightly. She was completely immobile.

"The winner of this round is...Elementro!" Scott announced loudly. But Elementro didn't stop. He closed his fist tighter.

"ArrUGRGH!" Rockflame grunted as she was pressed more tightly.

"Elementro, you won!" Jean yelled, in a effort to stop him. Elementro's gaze suddenly lightened, and he relaxed his fist. Rockflame fell to her hands and knees, heaving. She felt like there was something lodged in her throat, and she was unable to speak.

_What was that all about?_

…...

Elementro hurried from the Danger room, trying to get away from all the questioning glances and whispers from the other recruits. He didn't quite what happened in the Danger Room, what had made him almost suffocate his teammate. It was almost as if...something had came over him, and he couldn't control it. He quickly went to the locker rooms and changed, then headed upstairs to the bathroom near his room for a shower. The thought of showering in public in the locker rooms was simply disgusting in his mind.

After he had showered and got all the dust out of his hair, he changed out of his uniform (He requested it when he was officially admitted to the team: It was dark grayish-brown, perfect for blending in with the earth. It had a large hood that that completely shadowed his face, and matching gloves) and into his street clothes: Black jeans, a dark gray three-quarter sleeve shirt, and a long, black vest.

_I need some fresh air. _He walked outside into the lawns, breathing in the morning air. The first leaves had begun to fall, and there was a nip in the air.

-_Elementro, I need to talk to you. Come see me in the library.- _The Professor's voice was suddenly in his head. Elementro had come to trust the Professor a little more, but didn't let his guard down. Deep down, he _knew_ the Professor was good-hearted and trustworthy, but for some reason, he couldn't get rid of the feeling that he couldn't totally put his trust in him. Sighing, he went back inside.

…...

Wanda Maximoff rubbed the bridge of her nose as the first speck of a migraine pulsed behind her eyes. Having Pyro in the house was a full-time job, and with her brother Pietro's constant whining, she was going mad. Not to mention that she suspected his of stealing her foundation and eyeshadow. Toad and Freddy were as annoying as usual, and Lance was just...Lance. There was no other way to put it. Wanda got up and headed downstairs. Just as she was halfway down...'KA_-BOOOOOM! AHHH!'_ She heard an explosion (The third this week) and a scream (Toads). She peeked around the corner, almost afraid of what she might see. There sat Pyro and Toad in front of the fireplace. Or, what used to be the fireplace. Now, it was a charred pile of ash, in which Toad was buried in. Pyro was laughing his head off, videoing the whole thing on his phone.

_Not again._

_..._

The person cloaked in black sat in a dark room.

_Things are working out perfectly, Master. _

There was an evil cackling sound, seemingly coming from thin air. Outside, a raven crowed.

_**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!**_


	13. Torn Feelings

_**I only got one review for chapter 12. :(. Can I please get at least two or three for this chapter? If you are reading this, review. Just one or two words will do it! I really don't want to submit chapter 14 until I have at least 30 reviews total.**_

_** Also in this chapter, I want to get into the POVs of characters that I haven't covered much, so I will be doing that. Review, and enjoy. **_

"Come in, Elementro, have a seat." The Professor sat across from the couch in the library, hands folded under his chin. The rest of the students were in the Danger Room or relaxing, so the large room was empty, making the Professor look more intimidating, sitting in the soft glow of a lamp, eerie shadows casting on his face.

Elementro slinked into the room, hands in his pockets, head down. He sat down on the couch, pressing himself as far away from the Professor as possible. He looked at the floor, knowing and dreading what was coming.

_Why is this happening to me?_

"Elementro, what happened in your Danger Room session today?" Elementro flinched as the question was asked. "I could hear Mandira's distressed thoughts all the way from here."

"Well..." Elementro muttered, his voice cool and quiet, "I...don't know what happened. It was like something took over, and I just couldn't help it." he looked up briefly. "Not that I'm trying to make excuses."

"I know. But this is worrisome. Luckily, Mandira wasn't hurt. But it doesn't take a telepath to realize that something is bothering you, Elementro." The Professor said gently. "So what is it that's distressing you?"

Elementro didn't answer. Should he tell the Professor about his nightmares? If he did, then the Professor would probably want to probe his mind for the cause. If he did, he might be able to discover some of the secrets of Elementro's past. But at the same time, Elementro wasn't sure if he wanted the Professor to know every secret of his.

"Elementro, you must learn to trust me." The Professor said, interrupting his thoughts. "You have to know that we are only here to help."

Did Elementro believe him? Would he let the Professor, someone who he hadn't known for more than a week, into his head?

The truth? Part of him believed the Professor, but the other part, the dark, brooding boy who didn't trust anybody, didn't. Recently, the other part of him had been breaking through a little, such as when he made the earth slide. But he was still unconvinced. Was he ready to overcome his reluctance and get the help he needed? Elementro was about to find out that the first step was always the hardest...

…...

Scarlett Hamilton, aka Prana, sat in the room of her new bestie, Holly Storm, aka Portalle. As was the routine now after Danger Room sessions, the new girls in the institute gathered in Holly's and Mandira's room and hung out.

"These Danger Room sessions get more difficult every time we do them." Cassie complained, stretching out her back. "My muscles are constantly sore."

"I know." Mandira agreed, rubbing her neck. Days of training had left all the girls slightly sore, but they knew it would wear off after they'd gotten used to it. "It's almost like Wolverine's _trying _to make this as difficult as possible for us. The guy's a lunatic."

"By the way, speaking of guys..." Holly spoke up, her wide blue eyes glittering mischievously. "Anyone here notice any since we got here? Particularly hot ones?" She turned her gaze toward Ivana. "Like _Mason?_"

The blue-eyed girl looked at her lap and blushed scarlet. "Mason and I are just friends, that's all." she muttered defensively. Holly rolled her eyes.

"Mmm-hmm. I've heard that one before. How long can a girl and a guy stay 'just friends?" Holly winked at her. Ivana blushed harder and stared at the floor.

"But seriously, Ivana, I know how you feel. I mean, Mason's totally hot, nobody can argue with that." The blond girl looked around the room. "Anyone else have their eye on somebody?"

"Yeah!" Scarlett piped up, her dark eyes sparkling. "Did anyone notice Elementro? I know he's like, quiet and moody, and he's always lashing out, but he _is_ pretty hot."

Mandira felt uncomfortable. She found talking about boys shallow and silly. On top of that, she had had an unpleasant confrontation with Elementro in the Danger Room, so this was increasingly awkward for her. She was also aware of the fact that Elementro would not appreciate being talked about in that way. While the other girls were distracted discussing Sean's 'guns', she pulled her headscarf on and slipped out of the room. She knew that Elementro wouldn't appreciate these girls talking about him; she knew she wouldn't like it if it were the other way around. School was going to start in a week, and Mandira wanted to clear her head before she became more stressed. Maybe she could go talk with Storm. Anything to relax herself. But as she walked out, she didn't notice Sandy, Roxaya's dog, staring intently at her back, fixing her with her chocolate brown gaze.

…...

Wanda Maximoff pinched the bridge of nose with her thumb and forefinger. The sharp beginning of a migraine was blooming between her eyes, all thanks to a certain crazed mutant. Having Pyro was a full-time job. Toad and Freddy were still annoying, and Lance was just...Lance. Pietro was still whiny and nagging, and Wanda suspected that he was using her eyeliner and foundation. All in all, she almost couldn't wait for Mystique to return, being the leader of the Brotherhood was no easy task, and Wanda was exhausted. She decided to go out for a bit, maybe head to the mall and get away from the guys. As she stood up, she heard a loud, '_BOOOOOM!_' followed by a muffled scream. Wanda raced down the stairs to see what happened.

_What did Pyro do now? He's already blown up the stove, melted the windows, charred the curtains, incinerated the fireplace, and singed most of Freddy's hair off. _

Wanda got her answer as she reached the living room, the source of the commotion. There was Pyro in front of a twisted metal frame that used to be the ratty couch. He, the floor, and the ceiling were covered in soot. She heard a muffled groan above her head and looked up. There was Toad, half-buried in the ceiling. It was if someone had thrown him, and his whole front was embedded in the ceiling. Pyro stood there, looking stunned. Then he started laughing hysterically, and then dropped onto the floor, rolling around, laughing to the point of tears.

Wanda sighed, canceling any plans of relaxation of the day.

…...

Elementro sat across from the Professor, growing more uncomfortable as the bald man's piercing gaze burned into his skull. Inside, he was at war with himself: Should he accept the Professor's help, or try and figure it out on his own? In the end, his old self won over.

"I think I handle it, Professor." Elementro stood up. "But, um...thanks anyway." Without looking back at the Professor, Elementro turned and walked out of the library. He turned into the hallway and collided with somebody approaching from the opposite direction.

"Oof!" Mandira grunted as slammed into Elementro. "Why do we keep running into each other?" She asked, trying to lighten the situation.

"How should I know?" Elementro asked irritably. "You should watch where you're going." Shoving past her, he stormed upstairs. It occurred to him he was rude to Mandira, and normal protocal would be to apologize, but he was in no mood to talk to anybody right now. He went up to his room and slammed the door, throwing himself down on his bed.

"Hey, 'Mentro, what happened to you?" Elementro hadn't noticed Mason standing in front of the closet, digging through his clothes. Elementro buried his head under his pillows, not even bothering to tell Mason to stop calling him that annoying nickname he'd come up with. Elementro might have thought of Mason as one of his only friends, but right now, he just wanted to be alone. Mason picked up on this and walked out of the room. He was confused, sometimes Elementro seemed ready to open up and relax, but then he'd slip into his moody, grim self and completely blow everyone off. Which was a pity, because Mason thought that Elementro was one of the people in the institute he had the potential to become friends with. The Professor might try and work with him, but with Elementro, that might not be easy. It was clear that Elementro was carrying a terrible burden, and Mason couldn't blame him for being so antisocial. But at the same time, Mason wished Elementro would at least let the Professor try to help.

Mason headed downstairs, where he saw several other students gathering by the front door.

"What are you guys doing?" he asked, scanning the throng of students. There were both boys and girls, all of them new students.

"We're sneaking off to the mall," Sean told him, zipping up his sweater. "Want to come?"

"What do you mean, 'sneaking off'?" Mason asked. Sean sighed patiently.

"'Sneaking off' as in leaving and nobody knows." he answered. "None of us are sixteen, so the Professor would never let us go alone. That's why we have Cassie here-" he gestured to the white-haired girl, who was slipping into a light purple jacket. "To hide us from him. So, are you coming or what?"

"Sure." Mason hurried to join them. He wasn't wearing a jacket, but there was not time to go grab one. He and the others piled into the X-Van, which was parked in the garage.

"How are we going to drive this thing?" Yokiku asked, seating himself next to Mason. "If you haven't noticed, the keys to the van aren't exactly lying around the Institute."

"Leave that to me." Kavin, who was settled behind the drivers' seat, touched a finger to his temple, and in response, the car started up. Cassie was holding on to the doors, keeping them and the car hidden.

"What about Paul?" Mason noticed the young French wasn't in the van. "Shouldn't we get him, too?"

"Too late." Sean replied. "Besides, you know how timid he is. He would never break the rules like this."

"Maybe." Mason muttered. But inside, he knew it was wrong. Kavin gripped the wheel and backed the van out of the garage, (which he had also opened), and they drove off, on their first official joyride.

…...

Paul Keller sat in the community room. He knew the other students had left without him, he had heard them making plans. It had hurt him that they hadn't bothered to include him, but he _was_ worried about getting caught.

_ Well, _he reasoned, _There are other things to do here. Not everyone left. _

And with that thought, he made his way up to Mason's, Nik's, and Elementro's room.

_At least Elementro's still here._

_**Sorry it took me so long to write this. Now I'm a freshman in high school, I'm way busier that I used to be. So I might updating only once or twice a week. So PLEASE PLEASE bear with me. Review, but please no flames. They make me mad.**_


	14. Mall Crawl

_**Next chapter: Coming up! Hope you've gotten used to my habit of taking forever to update, so I hope you like it.**_

"This is a stupid idea!" Elementro spat.

"Well, you agreed to it!" Paul hissed in the darkness. "We've come too far to turn back. You do know what you're doing, right?"

"Of course." Elementro snapped. "I just don't know why I let you talk me into this."

Paul pointed a trembilng finger toward Elementro's perfectly functional arm, trying to mask his own anxiety. "You owed me. Now let's go!"

"You really know how to hit where it hurts." Elementro muttered under his breath. But it was true. Elementro owed a favor to Paul, without whom Elementro would still be stuck in the institute with a badly broken arm. Also, to his great annoyance, Paul wasn't as wimpy as he looked. His training must be working. Scowling, Elementro placed his hand on the roof of the tunnel.

"The mall's right above us. Now what?" he asked.

"Well, I was hoping..." Paul trailed off, fiddling his fingers nervously. Elementro's visible eye widened.

"Are you out of your mind! You want me to break through the floor of the mall! That's insane!"

"It's not like you couldn't!" Paul retorted.

"We could come up right in the middle of some mutant-hating crowd! We could get arrested! Elementro shot back.

"You said you'd help me." Paul said. "So do it!"

After giving Paul a withering look, Elementro brought his hands together in front of his face, like a prayer. Then, slowly, he pushed his hands up while separating them. A hairline crack appeared in the rock above their heads. Pushing his hands farther apart, the crack widened, until it was a square hole, about three feet wide.

"I don't think anyone's up there. Now let's go!" He crouched down and jumped, stretching his hands upward. His fingertips brushed the edge of the hole, and he gripped tightly, pulling himself over the edge. He stood up, and took in his surroundings. He was in a dimly lit room that stretched on for about twenty meters. There were boxes and crates stacked up along the walls.

_Must be a storage room._

"Come on!" he hissed to Paul, who was still standing in the dark hole.

"I can't reach." Paul's voice sounded distant and tinny. Rolling his eyes, Elementro flicked his hand upward.

"Oof!" Paul grunted as he landed with a _thump_ after being shot up into the air by a platform of earth. Elementro proceeded to close the hole and tunnel.

"Now what?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

"We find the other students." Paul tried to sound more confident than he felt, and failed miserably.

Elementro flattened himself against the wall, his gray clothes concealing him in the shadows.

"Come on!" he snapped again to Paul, reaching out and yanking him against the dark wall. They crept along slowly, concealed by the shadows cast by the dingy lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling. At the end of the room, there was a set of stairs.

"Is there anyone up there?" Paul asked tersely.

"How should I know?" Elementro just stopped himself from snapping. "Since when am I a telepath?"

"Okay, okay, keep your head on." Paul whispered. "We'll just have to go up and see."

"If we get arrested for this, I blame you." Elementro muttered. They bound up the steps and slowly pushed the doors open.

There were at the end of the mall, at a small food court. There were only a couple of people eating, so Elementro and Paul slipped through the door and walked toward the main part of the Bayville Mall. Elementro and Paul both relaxed and started looking for their fellow students.

"You know," Paul said slowly, "Cassie's with them. That means..."

"...They could be anywhere," Elementro finished, "And we wouldn't know."

"They also could be watching us right now." Paul added. Elementro shuddered. Freaky.

"But I doubt it." Paul said. "They're probably shopping, which is hard to do when you're invisible."

"So where do you think we should start-" Elementro was cut off by a security guard shoving past him.

"Get her!" the guard screamed. Elementro shot Paul a puzzled look and stood on his toes, craning his neck to see over the throng of people. Five guards were charging through the mall, shoving indignant shoppers out of the way, shouting into their walkie-talkies.

_Get who?_ Elementro thought. He scanned the mall, looking for the person being chased. He saw more guards on the balcony, and then spotted the person being chased.

_No way._

He did a double-take. He wasn't mistaken. It was a small girl, maybe ten or eleven years old, with shiny black hair that hung to her shoulders. She was wearing a pink shirt and jeans, and appeared to be crying. Nevertheless, she was weaving and slipping through the kiosks and crowds with amazing agility and speed.

"Get that mutant freak!" A guard yelled, leaping over an overturned bench, making a wild grab for the girl.

_Mutant freak?_

That girl was a mutant? Elementro jumped off the bench and grabbed Paul's arm.

"W-What's going on?" Paul stammered, his French accent thickening. Elementro started running, dragging the small blond boy behind him.

"Just come on!" Elementro let go of Paul and started running faster, shoving people out of the way. Paul started falling behind, but Elementro pushed harder. He reached the escalator and started bounding up two steps at a time.

_Why is this escalator so long?_

Elementro had just noticed that it was taking longer than normal to reach the top when he realized that the people on the escalator opposite were heading up: He was on the escalator going down!

Cursing under his breath, Elementro put more effort into his climb and mate it to the top. The girl was about ten meters away, but the guards were gaining fast.

With a start, Elementro realized that he didn't know what he was doing here. Did he plat to help the guards catch the girl? Or was he going to save her from them. While he stood there trying to figure this problem out, the little girl reached the escalator. At the same moment, a guard took a flying leap and caught the back of her shirt.

Elementro stood watching the whole thing. He was just about to grab for the girl, he not being sure weather to help the guard secure her or yank her out of his grip, when the guard suddenly froze in his place. With a jolting realization, Elementro saw that everyone in the whole mall had frozen in place. People stared at each other in mid-sentence, their mouths open, their eyes unblinking. Shoppers were stuck in mid-purchace, their stiff hands holding cash and credit cards. But strangely, the girl wasn't frozen. She was sitting on the floor, face buried in her knees, sobbing.

_Uh oh. There's only one person who could've done this..._

"I believe," Elementro cringed at the Professor's voice as he slowly came up over the edge of the escalator, "That you have some explaining to do."

The rest of the students stood behind him, looking at their shoes. Elementro sighed.

_Why are these things never simple?_

_**Stay tuned!**_


End file.
